New Brunswick's first-ever integrity commissioner says he still believes the conflict of interest law for MLAs needs to be toughened — despite both Progressive Conservatives and Liberals rejecting his proposal in the last year.

Alexandre Deschênes officially retired from the watchdog position Dec. 31. In an interview with CBC News, he said he's disappointed no government has acted on his recommendation to ban "apparent" or "perceived" conflicts of interest.

Then-premier Brian Gallant rejected the idea, saying it would impede politicians from doing their jobs, while Progressive Conservative MLA Bruce Fitch said the ban would be complicated because of "the semantics of what exactly does that mean."

"These types of arguments to me are not very convincing," Deschênes said Friday.

"There are several provinces who have the 'apparent' or 'perceived' conflict of interest in force now and the governments have been functioning rather well."

Gallant said in December 2017 that banning perceived conflicts would mean a minister or MLA with a slight personal connection to an issue "would potentially not be able to vote, not be able to debate, not be able to discuss, not be able to introduce legislation, not be able to do their work as a minister."

At the time, the opposition PCs wouldn't commit to the change if they formed government.

But government spokesperson Tyler Campbell said Friday the new Higgs government "will explore the issue of perceived conflict of interest as part of its already stated commitment to strengthening conflict of interest rules."

Two previous conflict of interest commissioners have also proposed the change over the years, but to no avail.

A conflict of interest occurs when an elected official's other interests or connections affect his or her decision-making in office.

Two recent perception cases

Deschênes first raised the idea after looking into then-health minister Victor Boudreau's interest in a proposed Parlee Beach campground at the same time public health officials were dealing with fecal contamination at the beach.

Deschênes said in a letter to Boudreau that "one could argue" his investment did not technically put him in a conflict of interest but also said the perception of a conflict was "inevitable." Boudreau recused himself from handling the contamination issue.

Later that year, Gallant demanded MLA Donald Arseneault either quit a new lobbying job in Ottawa or be ejected from the Liberal caucus, citing "a perceived conflict of interest." Arseneault ended up resigning from the legislature.

Deschênes said that makes it obvious that the law should be changed.

"We have seen over the last couple years that leaders of political parties or governments do not want MLAs to continue on in a perceived or apparent conflict of interest. They sometimes hand out pretty severe consequences … so I don't see what the problem is."

As commissioner, Deschênes met with MLAs once a year so they could declare any conflicts. He said 80 per cent of the cases raised by elected members were not clear-cut but did create a potential perception of conflict.

"They would always abide by my recommendations that they get out of it," he said.

'Magnitude' of work too great

Deschênes, 73, retired as a justice of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 2015 and was appointed conflict of interest commissioner the following year.

At the time, the position was part-time. But in 2017 the Liberals broadened the role. Renaming it integrity commissioner, they added watchdog responsibility for the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the registry of lobbyists.

That amounted to a full-time workload, including a "voluminous" number of right-to-information complaints, Deschênes said.

"I came to the conclusion that the magnitude of the mandate was such that I did not think it was proper to continue," he said. "I did not feel I could live up to the expectations of citizens of this province."

The province has appointed Ombud Charles Murray to fill the position temporarily.

Campbell said Murray can only be interim commissioner for a year, and the province will launch an independent process to find a full-time replacement.

Job should be split, Deschênes says

As the first person to have held the position of integrity commissioner, Deschênes said he believes the workload justifies splitting up the functions again, with right-to-information and privacy complaints being handled by a separate commissioner.

That would leave the integrity commissioner to handle MLA conflicts of interest, the lobbyist registry and a new issue — conflict of interest cases for deputy ministers and other senior government officials.

The conflict law for those non-elected officials is now overseen by a sitting judge designated by the province, an arrangement Deschênes said "has to be abandoned for many reasons."

He points out that judges who have been designated to oversee the law have complained that there is no list of who it covers nor anything in the legislation outlining what action to take against someone found to be in a conflict.

He also believes it's awkward for the independence of the courts if a sitting judge is overseeing the behaviour of civil servants.

"Any potential changes to the role of the integrity commissioner would be considered as work proceeds on the government's stated commitment to strengthen conflict of interest rules," Campbell said.

Calls for changes to information law

Deschênes also used his retirement to call for changes to the right-to-information law to streamline how the courts hear appeals under the act. People whose requests for documents are rejected by the province have the right to appeal to the Court of Queen's Bench.

"The appeal is supposed to be a user-friendly type of process, where citizens from the province can simply file an appeal and argue that the recommendations of the commissioner ought to be followed," he said.

But Deschênes said some judges treat the appeals like full trials, allowing the province to introduce new evidence and new arguments. That can make the appeal a legal challenge for an ordinary citizen, he said.

The law should be changed to prevent the government from adding new arguments to its case, he said.