It was revealed this week Mr Parton had sought the advice of the ACT's ethic and integrity advisor over his appearance in ads for Rolfe Honda.

The ads were created before Mr Parton took office, he does not own the copyright to them and he has no current financial arrangement with the car dealership.

In response to questions from Fairfax Media, Mr Barr said local parliamentarians needed to be careful about avoiding actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

"It probably isn't the smartest sales strategy for Honda - I imagine sales of their cars to Labor voters (the largest group of Canberrans) would plummet," Mr Barr said.

However Mr Parton told ABC Radio Canberra on Wednesday he was "a little dismayed" by the chief minister's comments.

"He's made these veiled suggestions that perhaps Labor voters should not purchase cars from this dealership which I find extraordinary from this bloke who has spent his entire working life virtually working in the bubble of the Legislative Assembly, has no idea how small business works," Mr Parton said.

"If you want to take a look at his vision of small business, drive past the Westside Container Village because that's his vision of small business."

The lakeside pop up is due to close at the end of April, seven months earlier than expected.

Mr Barr has expressed strong support for Westside Village from the outset, after the government took control over the much-maligned venture in August 2015.

But last year, business owners said they were furious at the broken promises and poor management that had dogged the project.

Only three businesses are now operating on the site, vendor Walid Ajaj said on Sunday.

The chief minister's office has been approached for comment.