OTTAWA - Conservative Senator Leo Housakos asked the Senate ethics officer Tuesday to determine if there was anything untoward about the awarding of a $1.4 million federal stimulus contract to a company he worked for.

Under the Conflict of Interest Code for Senators, members of the upper chamber can ask the officer for an opinion on any matter relating to the code.

The opinion that Jean Fournier ultimately provides will be binding, but completely confidential unless Housakos agrees to make it public.

Ethics officers on Parliament Hill promise to be tied up for some time. The parliamentary ethics commissioner also announced Tuesday she is investigating complaints over the signing of ceremonial federal stimulus cheques by Conservative politicians.

The Canadian Press reported earlier this week that Housakos was on the payroll of Montreal engineering firm, BPR, when it won a $1.4 million contract as part of a consortium studying the city's Champlain Bridge.

The same day the government signalled it would soon open bidding on the contract -- May 20 -- Housakos organized a major Conservative fundraiser in Montreal. Four executives from BPR and the winning consortium were at the event, as well as two officials from the federal agency that ultimately awarded the contract four months later.

Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge Inc. (JCCBI) is currently examining whether its board members, Serge Martel and Paul Kefalas, breached any of its own ethical guidelines by attending the fundraiser.

Housakos insists he had nothing to do with the contract or the presence of the executives at the fundraiser and didn't even seen them there. The senator as well as representatives of BPR insisted his sole connection to BPR was limited to being president of the wholly owned subsidiary, TerrEau.

But Housakos' public declaration to the Senate Ethics Officer on Feb. 4, 2009 said he worked for both BPR and TerrEau. He sent an official notice to Fournier this month saying he had left both positions on Oct. 1, 2009. His Senate website said he was a vice-president at BPR until last Thursday when the reference was removed.

The senator's office was at BPR's headquarters in Montreal, although TerrEau is based on Quebec City. TerrEau lists as its senior executives the same team as BPR on Quebec's corporate registry.

The opposition pressed the Conservatives for answers on the issue for the second day in a row.

"Did the Prime Minister's Office know the senator was vice-president of business development for this company? Who altered Senator Housakos' biography?" asked Liberal MP Dominic Leblanc.

"Did the Prime Minister's Office know that it was whitewashed? Did the Prime Minister's Office suggest that the senator's biography be whitewashed? Was this not a blatant attempt to hide the link between Senator Housakos, BPR and the Prime Minister's Office?"

"Does the prime minister realize that there is at least an appearance of a conflict of interest?" said Bloc MP Carole Freeman.

Transport Minister John Baird, whose department oversees the JCCBI, repeated that there was no political involvement.

"We have been very clear in this place that neither myself nor my office had anything to do with the awarding of this contract," Baird said. "It was done by a crown corporation operating at arm's-length."

Later, Baird told reporters that there is nothing wrong with member of a federal corporation buying tickets to a fundraiser.

Elections Canada records dated up to July 2009 show no record of a donation made by Martel and Kefalas at the fundraiser, although both men were at the event.

Dimitri Soudas, a senior aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and longtime friend of Housakos, pointed out Tuesday that Kefalas had donated $1,072 to former Liberal leader Stephane Dion in 2008, and $250 to the Liberal party in 2007.