Strengthening the role of the Ethics Commissioner

On April 11, 2006, the Government of Canada introduced the Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan, delivering on its commitment to make government more accountable. This is one of a series of fact sheets describing proposed actions to respond to this commitment.

The context

Canadians expect elected representatives and public-office holders to make decisions in the public interest, without any consideration of personal gain. Public-office holders must perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest.

The Action Plan

The Government of Canada will introduce a series of measures to strengthen the role of the Ethics Commissioner. Specifically, the Federal Accountability Act will:

• combine the functions of the Ethics Commissioner and the Senate Ethics Officer and create a new position, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner;
• enshrine the provisions of the current Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders into a new Conflict of Interest Act;
• give the new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, an individual who must have a judicial or quasi-judicial background, has been a former Senate Ethics Officer or former Ethics Commissioner, the power to administer the proposed Conflict of Interest Act, initiate formal investigations, and levy monetary penalties for administrative breaches under this Act;
• prevent the Prime Minister from overruling the Commissioner on whether the Prime Minister, a minister, or other public-office holder has violated this Act;
• prohibit the use of blind management agreements ("venetian blind trusts"), meaning that public-office holders will either have to sell assets in an arm's-length transaction or place them in a fully blind trust; and
• give the public the ability to bring forward, through a Member of Parliament, information to the Commissioner for consideration and action, as appropriate.

For more information

For more information on this specific measure, please refer to the relevant section of the Action Plan, or contact us.