What is conflict of interest?
A conflict of interest is any situation where an individual’s private interests may be incompatible or in conflict with their public service responsibilities. A conflict of interest could occur when an individual/company could benefit from their relationship with a public servant. For example, an employee whose brother owns a large construction company is assigned as the lead for a project to select a company to build a courthouse. The brother is interested in the contract. In this case, the employee must report this potential conflict of interest to their manager in order for a resolution to be found. If a real or potential conflict is determined, the activity may be curtailed, modified or stopped in order to resolve the conflict.
