Paul D.K. Fraser

In 2007, Fraser was appointed as the British Columbia Conflict Commissioner.[1] The position is established by an Act of the Parliament of British Columbia and is a non-partisan officer of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The Commissioner is nominated by the Premier of British Columbia and must be recommended by at least two-thirds of the members of the Legislative Assembly.[9] In Fraser's case, the Assembly's recommendation to appoint him was unanimous.[3][10][11]

The Conflict Commissioner has a mandate with three functions: to provide advice to Members of the Legislative Assembly on potential conflicts of interest; to meet annually with each member to review their declarations under the Members' Conflict of Interest Act; and to carry out investigations into complaints of conflicts of interest.[12]

When Fraser was appointed in 2007, the position of Conflict of Interest Commissioner was part-time. However, when his appointment was renewed by the Legislative Assembly in 2015, it was made a full-time position.[13]

In 2012, John van Dongen, an independent MLA, filed a complaint with the Commissioner's office, alleging that Premier Christy Clark was in a conflict of interest in relation to the sale of BC Rail to Canadian National railway. Shortly after the complaint was filed, it became known that Fraser's son, John Paul Fraser, was an assistant deputy minister in the government and a personal friend of the Premier. Van Dongen asked that Commissioner Fraser not review the allegation himself, as he personally was in a potential conflict. After considering the matter over the weekend, Fraser announced that he would not review the complaint and instead would delegate it to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner for the Northwest Territories, Gerald Gerrand, QC. Fraser had no further involvement in the file, other than ensuring that Gerrand had the necessary resources to investigate the complaint.[14] Gerrand later issued a report which cleared Clark.[15]

In 2016, it became known that Premier Clark hosted exclusive party fundraising events and received an annual stipend from the British Columbia Liberal Party. David Eby, a New Democratic Party MLA, filed a complaint of conflict of interest with the Commissioner, as did Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch.

This time, Fraser conducted the review of the complaint himself. On May 4, 2016, he released a report which held that Clark was not in a conflict of interest, as the fundraising was not for her personal benefit, but for the benefit of the Liberal Party. As well, the receipt of the stipend was not a conflict of interest.[16]

Eby stated that he did not think when he filed the complaint that Fraser was in a personal conflict because of his son's connection with the Premier, but after the report came out he was reviewing that point.

Fraser has been active both provincially and nationally in the Canadian Bar Association a professional organization for lawyers. He was the president of the British Columbia Branch of the CBA in 1976-1977. In 1981-1982, he served as the national president of the CBA. He is the senior surviving past-president.[21]

During his term as president of the British Columbia Branch, he pressed the provincial government to enact freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation, which would have been the first in Canada.[20]

Fraser was national president when the federal government appointed Bertha Wilson, the first woman justice of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1982. Speaking on behalf of the CBA, Fraser said he welcomed the appointment for two reasons: "First and foremost, as a lawyer and a judge her Ladyship has demonstrated her worthiness to sit on the highest court in Canada. Secondly, the appointment ... involves women in every level of the judicial system and makes the role of women in the administration of justice appropriately complete."[22]

During his term as president of the British Columbia branch, Canada was going through a period of considerable political turmoil, caused by the election of the separatist Parti Québécois government in the province of Quebec in the provincial election of 1976. The PQ government's platform called for Quebec to separate from Canada.

At the annual meeting of the CBA in the summer of 1977 the national president, A. Boyd Ferris, called on the CBA to pass a resolution in favour of national unity and a strong federal government, and rejecting separatism. Fraser introduced the resolution, seconded by Robert Lesage, the president of the Quebec branch.[23] The resolution generated considerable debate, as some members did not think the CBA should take a stand on political issues, while some members from Quebec thought the resolution attempted to impose a particular position on the sovereignty issue as a condition of membership in the CBA.[24] Eventually, the resolution was amended on a motion by Yves Fortier, a past-president of the Quebec branch, and seconded by Bryan Williams, the incoming president of the British Columbia branch. The amendment removed the language expressly supporting a strong federal system and rejecting separatism.[23] The result of the amendment was that the CBA established a committee to study the constitutional issues and make recommendations on constitutional reform.[25]

In 2014, Fraser was one of eleven past-presidents of the CBA who intervened in a dispute between the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and the Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, over the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Prime Minister criticised the Chief Justice, alleging that she had acted improperly. The CBA past-presidents defended her actions, as did the then-President, Fred Headon.[26][27]

In the fall of 2013, the federal government appointed Justice Nadon of the Federal Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Although he was sworn in, an issue arose whether he was eligible to be appointed under the terms of the Supreme Court Act. In the spring of 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that Justice Nadon was not eligible to be appointed, because he was on the Federal Court of Appeal rather than on a Quebec superior court, as required by the Supreme Court Act.[28] After the Supreme Court's decision, the Prime Minister publicly criticised the Chief Justice, saying that she had behaved improperly in speaking of the qualification issue during a consultation about the appointment some nine months earlier, with the Minister of Justice, Peter MacKay.[29]

Fraser and ten other past-presidents of the CBA then wrote an open letter to The Globe and Mail, criticising the Prime Minister's conduct. They stated: "... these circumstances leave us concerned that the Prime Minister’s statements may intimidate or harm the ability of the Supreme Court of Canada to render justice objectively and fairly – even when the government of Canada chooses to be a litigant before it."[26]

In addition to Fraser, the letter was signed by L. Yves Fortier QC of Montreal; Thomas G. Heintzman QC of Toronto; Daphne Dumont QC of Charlottetown; Simon V. Potter of Montreal; William Johnson QC of Regina; Susan McGrath of Iroquois Falls; Bernard Amyot of Montreal; Guy Joubert of Winnipeg; D. Kevin Carroll, QC of Barrie; and Rod Snow of Whitehorse.

In 2015, Fraser was one of seventeen past-presidents of the Canadian Bar Association wrote an open letter to the Globe and Mail, criticising plans to locate a proposed Memorial to the Victims of Communism immediately adjacent to the Supreme Court of Canada.[30][31]

While not opposing the idea of the monument itself, the group of past-presidents argued that it was inappropriate for an overtly political memorial to be placed adjacent to the Supreme Court, which is politically neutral: "It is ill conceived, however, to add an imposing sculpture signalling a strong political message, controversial or not, literally in the face of the very institution which is the final arbiter in Canada of disputes involving Canadians, the federal and provincial governments, and foreign litigants."[30]

Late in 2015, the federal government announced that it would move the proposed memorial to a different location.[32]

Fraser served a three-year term, from 1993 to 1996,[33] as president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, an international association which links lawyers from the various countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.[3][34]

Fraser was also the president of the Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists, an organization dedicated to preserving the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and human rights around the world.[3][35]