OTTAWA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- In accord with his promise to change Canadians' perception of government, Prime Minister Paul Martin has imposed tough new ethics rules on his Cabinet.
"We're going to change the way things work in Ottawa," Martin said after his first Cabinet meeting Saturday, the CBC reported Sunday.
New ethics guidelines were presented to all the Cabinet members including public disclosure of expenses, limits on accepting gifts and a ban on taking flights aboard private aircraft, the CBC reported.
"We had an extensive discussion on the whole question of ethics," Martin said.
Some of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien's top aides had come under fire for accepting flights and vacations from a large corporation, the CBC said.
"We must restore Canadians' trust that their government will conduct itself in an ethical manner," Martin said, promising "our new government will act with integrity."
