[LINK] "NDP MP rejects conflict allegation over CBC royalty cheque"

[rfmcdonald]

The NDP MP for my riding of Davenport, Andrew Cash, was a musician and a journalist before he was a parliamentarian. It's the first role that was alleged to cause a conflict of interest on his part, as reported by Postmedia News' Andrea Hill (see also MacLean's Andrew Coyne. It turns out that accepting royalty cheques from the CBC for music work on Dragon's Den doesn't bar him from voting on most matters relating to the CBC, apparently.

An NDP MP who receives thousands of dollars a year in royalties from the CBC says he will continue to sit on the committee that determines funding for the public broadcaster and that he is not violating conflict of interest rules.

Toronto-area MP Andrew Cash has been composing, producing and performing music for CBC’s reality-TV show Dragon’s Den since the show debuted seven years ago. He reportedly receives more than $2,000 for every episode aired.

“The ethics commissioner has said that I’ve done nothing wrong,” Cash told Postmedia News on Thursday. “I have been in constant touch with the ethics commissioner and her office since I first got to the Hill.”

When Cash joined the Canadian heritage standing committee in September 2011, he said the first thing he did was submit a letter to the clerk of the House to disclose the fact that he had a composer contract with the CBC and to state he would not participate in debates or votes related to the broadcaster.

Later that month, Mary Dawson, parliament’s conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, sent Cash a letter to clarify what his obligations were under the government’s conflict of interest code. In the letter, she said that the code prohibits you from participating in debate or from voting on matters specifically related to CBC’s funding or planning priorities that may affect your private interest. She added that Cash was able to participate in debates and votes that are of general application or that affect the CBC as one of a broad class.