Martine Richard is a Canadian public servant who served as the third conflict of interest and ethics commissioner of Canada. She was appointed on 27 March 2023, succeeding Mario Dion.[1] Richard's appointment was intended to be interim for a six-month period, until a regular appointment was made, but she resigned several weeks after the appointment.[2][3]
In the days after her appointment, opposition parties criticized her appointment to the role, due to her perceived closeness to the government.[4] She is Dominic LeBlanc's sister-in-law.[4][5]
Prior to her appointment as interim commissioner, Richard worked in the commissioner's office since 2013,[6] having served as a senior legal adviser and investigator since 2015.[4] During investigations into the SNC-Lavalin affair, she recused herself from at least two investigations due to perceived conflict of interest.[7][8][9] In 2018, Richard also recused herself from an investigation of LeBlanc in which he was found to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act for awarding a lucrative fishing licence to a company linked to his wife's cousin.[10][11]