No Plans for Investigation Into Rio Tinto Appointment of Ex-China Ambassador: Ethics Commissioner

Then-Canadian Ambassador Dominic Barton walks outside the Dandong city detention centre where Canadian citizen Michael Spavor was held, in Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, on Aug. 11, 2021. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s office says it is not planning to investigate the appointment of former ambassador to China Dominic Barton as the incoming chair of mining giant Rio Tinto, after two NDP MPs had asked the commissioner to look into the matter.

“I can confirm Commissioner Dion is not launching an examination into Dominic Barton as he did not have direct and significant dealings with Rio Tinto while he was Canada’s Ambassador in China,” Melanie Rushworth, the communications director at the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (OCIEC), said in a statement to The Epoch Times.