Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Ottawa’s ethics commissioner found Liberal MP Lori Idlout violated Parliament’s conflict of interest code, but recommended against imposing any penalties against her.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein released his findings from an investigation into Idlout’s purchases from her own shop that she charged to the House of Commons.
Idlout reimbursed the House, saying she submitted the items in error.
In a statement to CBC News, Idlout thanked the commissioner for the report.
“I acknowledge the commissioner’s findings and take this matter seriously,” she said.
“At the time, I did not consider that these purchases made for legitimate parliamentary purposes would further private interests, as I receive no income from the businesses in question,” Idlout wrote.
In the report, Finckenstein said he believed Idlout’s actions “were errors of judgment and made in good faith.” He said Idlout did not realize that the purchases would further her own interests, adding the Nunavut MP repaid the House as soon as she learned of the errors.
“In my view, this shows a true desire to fully remedy each instance of non-compliance,” Finckenstein wrote in the report. “I therefore recommended that no sanction be imposed.”
Idlout is the sole shareholder and director of Carvings Nunavut, a gallery that sells Inuit-made sculptures and artwork. Idlout claimed 13 purchases as “gifts given as a matter of protocol” since becoming MP, four of which were listed as being from Carvings Nunavut.
The commissioner found Idlout contravened the code of ethics’ section prohibiting MPs from acting in any way to further their own private interests.
What did Idlout charge to the House?
The four purchases from Carvings Nunavut amounted to $1,756 and were all made in 2025.
The largest purchase of $1,380 worth of cards, tote bags, hand-crafted keychains and zipper pulls and sculptures was made in August 2025. The commissioner said they were all gifts to First Nations leaders, elders and speakers at the NDP’s national caucus meeting in B.C. that September.
She also purchased a wall hanging for $150 in January 2025 that she gifted to a long-term care centre, a $150 lapel pin bought the same month and gifted to Liberal MP Greg Fergus — then speaker of the House of Commons — and a $76 purchase in June 2025, of a fridge magnet, bar of soap and tumbler cup gifted to Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand.
The expenses were made during Idlout’s time as an NDP MP, before she crossed the floor to the Liberals in March 2026.
After crossing the floor to the government from the NDP, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout walked into Liberal caucus alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday. When asked what prompted her move, Idlout said there were a ‘variety’ of things that informed the decision.
The same month, Conservative MP Michael Barrett wrote the ethics commissioner asking for an inquiry into Idlout’s conduct under the conflict of interest code.
“Ms. Idlout has — now that she’s been caught — admitted to doing what every member of Parliament knows or ought to know they can’t do,” Barrett said. “This speaks to very poor judgment.”
“I regret my error in judgment,” Idlout said in her statement to CBC News. “I have since learned from this experience and will work closely with the commissioner’s guidance going forward.”
