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Federal Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro said Friday he will conduct a preliminary inquiry into whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper ran afoul of conflict-of-interest rules in the defection of former Liberal MP David Emerson to the Tories last month.

In a letter sent to three opposition MPs — Liberals Wayne Easter and Byron Wilfert and NDP Peter Julian — Mr. Shapiro said he was launching the probe to determine whether Mr. Harper complied with his obligations under the conflict-of-interest code for members of the House of Commons.

"Although the subject of this inquiry is the prime minister, given that the actions of Messrs. Harper and Emerson in this incident were intertwined, questions will no doubt be raised during the course of the preliminary inquiry on the conduct of Mr. Emerson as well," Mr. Shapiro said in the letter.

Mr. Emerson shocked members of his constituency last month when, just two weeks after running and winning as a Liberal in the British Columbia riding of Vancouver-Kingsway, he showed up for the swearing in of Mr. Harper's government and accepted a cabinet post with the new Tory government.

The move prompted a string of protests in Mr. Emerson's riding and prompted complaints to the federal ethics watchdog from fellow MPs.

In his letter, Mr. Shapiro acknowledged those concerns and said he had also "received numerous requests" from the public to launch an inquiry into Mr. Emerson's actions.

"I have decided to combine the preliminary inquiry on the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, with a preliminary inquiry on my own initiative on Mr. Emerson," Mr. Shapiro said.

Mr. Emerson has rejected calls to step down and run again in a federal by-election, but he has vowed to run as a Conservative in the next federal election.

The Tories finished a distant third behind both the Liberals and NDP in the January election in the Vancouver-Kingsway riding.