Mary Dawson (Canadian civil servant)

Mary Elizabeth Dawson is the current Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada. She was appointed by the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 9, 2007 as the Conflict of Interest Act came into force.

Democracy Watch filed an application in in Federal Court challenging the ruling issued on January 7, 2008 by Dawson which concluded that, even when the government's own actions and those of one of their close associates are in question, they are allowed to choose whether a judicial inquiry will take place, to set the scope of the inquiry, to choose the inquiry commissioner(s) who will judge them, and to control a legal proceeding against another person who has made allegations about them.^[1] This discretion was demonstrated on April 13, 2010 when she decided not to investigate ^[2] Helena Guergis amid allegations of misconduct.

Dawson had a long career with the Government of Canada and oversaw a wide variety of legal issues from within the Department of Justice. She retired in 2005 as Associate Deputy Minister, a position she was appointed to by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1988.

Dawson played an important role in relation to constitutional matters. She was the final drafter for the patriation package (Constitution Act, 1982) and, until her retirement, drafted, and was the principal legal adviser for, all Constitutional amendments, including the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. She led the legal team for the Government of Canada on the Quebec Secession Reference and was responsible for the legal advice on, and drafting of, the Clarity Act. Dawson also managed the Supreme Court Reference on same-sex marriage for the Government of Canada as well as the preparation of the related legislation. She advised extensively in the area of aboriginal rights.

Since her retirement from the Department of Justice, Mary Dawson has acted as a consultant, both in the public and the private sectors. She often speaks to university classes and other groups and participates from time to time on panels. She was appointed in June, 2006 to the Board of Governors of the Ottawa Hospital, and serves on the Quality Committee of that Board.

From 1986 to 1995, Mary Dawson was the head of the Department of Justice Public Law Sector, including the traditional public law areas of constitutional law, administrative law and international law as well as human rights law, native law, judicial affairs, access and privacy law and regulatory affairs.

She was Associate Chief Legislative Counsel from 1980 to 1986 and Chair of the Statute Revision Commission through most of the 1980s. She joined the Legislation Section of the Department of Justice in 1970 and drafted such laws as the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Canada Health Act, the Official Languages Act, the Competition Act, the Customs Act and the Young Offenders Act.

She has held executive positions in the International Bar Association and was a Canadian member of the Joint Steering Committee of the Joint Canada-Russia project on Public Administration Reform in Russia.

Mary Dawson was a Skelton-Clark Fellow at Queen’s University in 1999-2000 where she lectured in several faculties. She has also published several articles on various subjects.

Education

Mary Dawson holds a BA (Honours Philosophy) and a BCL (Civil Law) from McGill University where she joined the Kappa Phi Chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, an LL.B (Common Law) from Dalhousie University and a Diplôme d’études supérieures en droit (droit public), from the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the Nova Scotia and Ontario Bars and retained her membership in her original Bar, the Quebec Bar, until her retirement from the Department of Justice.

Mary Dawson was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1978 and was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2007.

References

1. ^ "Democracy Watch Files Court Challenge of Federal Ethics Commissioner’s Decision Allowing Prime Minister Harper and His Cabinet To Set Terms of Reference of Inquiry and To Choose Who Will Judge Themselves, Mulroney and Schreiber". Democracy Watch. February 19, 2008. http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsFeb1908.html. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 
2. ^ Perenak, Aaron. "Ethics Commissioner Refuses To Investigate Helena Guergis". The Globe and Mail. http://fugumble.com/2010/04/gm-ethics-commissioner-refuses-to-investigate-helena-guergis.php. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 

External links

• Biography of Mary Dawson
• Parliament of Canada Hansard of the appointment of Mary Dawson as Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner

Preceded by Position created - replacing Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro

Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada 2007–current

Succeeded by Incumbent

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Name	Dawson, Mary
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