Looking out his Bloor Street window in Toronto, the Ontario Integrity Commissioner, Justice David Wake, Law’72, says, “That’s where my office was in 1972, when I left Queen’s to article for a firm of criminal and family lawyers. If I swivel my chair and look down Yonge Street I can see another old office at 1 Queen Street.” In that building, he served as Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice from 1999 to 2005. “My whole life is spread out before me here.”

Since last February, life for this Queen’s Law grad is serving a five-year term as Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner. “It is a big role, one that has grown over the years,” says Wake of his position as an independent ethics officer tasked with ensuring high ethical standards in the Ontario government. Originally, the role dealt only with confidential advice for MPPs – “the foundational mandate,” as Wake calls it. 

“These days we deal with between 300 and 400 Member’s inquiries per year, roughly two a day in session. We receive some pretty novel inquiries. There are wrinkles to many of them we haven’t seen before.” He smiles at the thought.

 Wake also serves as the lobbyist registrar, and it’s he who monitors and approves the expenses of cabinet, opposition leaders, and their staff. 

“It involves more than 450 people and thousands of expenses per year … and we take action where we find there’s a problem.”

If any of those staffers has an ethical question, they also come to Wake as their ethics executive. Additionally, instead of bringing complaints to their deputy minister, most public service whistleblowers go directly to him. Wake says the file has grown “exponentially.”

“The approach one has to take with whistleblowing, even if the complaint comes in on a piece of foolscap, is to treat it as if it’s prima facie valid and must be looked into.”

Wake is also responsible for auditing expenses for all 180 boards, agencies and commissions in the province. “Every time a cheque is written by the Government of Ontario, we have to follow it up and make sure it was issued appropriately,” he says.

Auditing aside, he says most work he does is “very comparable to the work I did as a judge when I was Associate Chief Justice.” Indeed, his reports read like mini-judgments, right down to the numbered paragraphs. 

That’s not surprising, given Wake’s extensive experience. After articling in Toronto, he practised law in Ottawa, for 20 years for a number of firms.

“Then I was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton. Everybody had told me, ‘Don’t go to Brampton. Stay in Ottawa or Toronto, but whatever you do, don’t go to Brampton.’ So of course, I went to Brampton. I love a challenge. It was already the busiest jurisdiction in Canada, and gave rise to a decision under section 11 of the Charter in R v Askov.”  (That case is famous for establishing how and when an accused’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time is infringed.)

It was after Brampton that Wake became Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice. 

“I was originally approached to be Integrity Commissioner while I was still a judge, just after I left the Chief Justice’s Office. I was looking to see what I was going to do next when I was approached about this position. At that time, it didn’t work because I hadn’t attained the right age to be able to retire appropriately from the Court.

When the Queen’s Park offer fell through, Wake decided to return to Ottawa. “I was happily working away there for five years as a judge and three more as Vice-Chair of the federal Social Security Tribunal. Then this job came up again. At that point I was well over 65 and in a position to take it.”

“In the meantime, more things had been added to the Commissioner’s job, so it was even more interesting,” he says. “It felt like unfinished business, so I wanted to get back to it. And I’m thrilled I did.”

His job has been thrust into the spotlight, given recent public interest in lobbying and conflict of interest in Ontario. 

“It’s somewhat ironic that I have the power to investigate a lobbyist for creating a potential conflict of interest for an MPP, but I don’t have the power to investigate an MPP for a potential conflict of interest under the Members’ Integrity Act unless another member files a request for an opinion. I can’t initiate.”

That legislation, unlike the B.C. equivalent, prohibits only the actual conflict of interest, not any perceived conflict. Wake maintains it is up to the legislature to make changes, not him. He also maintains that despite the intense public interest, his role is not to be an intermediary between Queen’s Park and the media. 

“As a judge,” he points out, “it doesn’t fall on you to make comments on the administration of justice.” Similarly, the Commissioner’s role is to stick to the individual cases. 

It’s a challenge, but Wake says taking it on was a no-brainer for him.

“I quite enjoy the work, I enjoy the people, I enjoy the challenges.”

By Jeremy Mutton