A Liberal MP bought gifts from her own business with her constituency budget, was found to have broken the conflict of interest code, and faced no sanctions. Conservative MP Aaron Gunn wanted to know why.

On Thursday's Rebel Roundup, Sheila Gunn Reid and Tamara Ugolini played a clip from a committee hearing where Gunn questioned Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein about Lori Idlout. Idlout was elected as an NDP MP for Nunavut and later crossed the floor to the Liberals. Sheila directed viewers to FireIdlout.com, which has a petition on the issue.

Gunn said the commissioner found Idlout violated section 8 of the code on five separate occasions, using her taxpayer-funded constituency budget to buy more than $2,000 in artwork and trinkets from her own business. He read a note from her compliance advisor from 2022, which said, “I also advised her she could not purchase gifts from the Indigenous art gallery she owns with her members office budget.”

“So why were there no sanctions and no consequences with this abuse of taxpayer money?” Gunn asked.

Von Finckenstein said the amount was minimal and that the profit to Idlout “would be minimal,” and said he cannot impose sanctions. “This would be the Speaker who would impose sanctions,” he said, adding that under the act he has discretion over whether to recommend any.

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Gunn asked whether he would apply the same standard to the prime minister. “Can you guarantee that you would recommend sanctions in that case, or might he just get off with a stern warning?”

“How many times does someone have to violate it for there to be a sanction?” Gunn asked. Von Finckenstein replied that if Gunn kept posing new questions before he could finish answering, “we're not having a discussion here.”

Tamara said it is hard for Canadians to watch MPs “flout the rules” over what she called a small sum, given “$2,000 is a whole heck ton of money to a lot of Canadians struggling under this Liberal government.” Sheila said she believes a food-bank user would not call $2,000 pocket change.

The hosts compared the case to former Conservative minister Bev Oda, whose $16 glass of orange juice cost her her political career.

“There seems to be no rhyme or reason in terms of who is sanctioned,” Tamara said. Conservatives, Sheila said, hold their own to a higher standard. “They will turn on their own if what they do becomes too unpalatable.”

In his September report, according to coverage by Turtle Island News, von Finckenstein found Idlout acted in good faith and repaid the House of Commons once the errors were raised with her.

He said she “did not realize that making purchases from two businesses would further her or her spouse's private interests.”

Rebel Roundup streams live Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.