These Ethical and Political Activity Guidelines for Public Office Holders are taken from the Prime Minister of Canada’s webpage and are dated November 27, 2015.
Part 1: Ethical Guidelines and Statutory Standards of Conduct
The following Guidelines apply to all public office holders.
Ethical Standards: Public office holders shall act with honesty and uphold the highest ethical standards so that public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of the government are conserved and enhanced.
Public Scrutiny: Public office holders have an obligation to perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.
Decision Making: Public office holders, in fulfilling their official duties and functions, shall make decisions in the public interest and with regard to the merits of each case.
Government Property: Public office holders shall not directly or indirectly use, or allow the use of, government property of any kind, including property leased to the government, for anything other than officially approved activities. In no circumstance should any political activities be performed at a government place of work; nor should any government equipment or material be used for such purposes.
Statutory Requirements
Public office holders are subject to the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Act as set out in Part IV: Standards of Conduct. Many are also subject to the five-year post-employment restriction on lobbying under the Lobbying Act.
Administration
Compliance with these Guidelines is a term and condition of appointment. Before appointment, a public office holder shall certify that he or she will comply with these Guidelines.
Part II: Guidelines for the Political Activities of Public Office Holders
The following Guidelines do not apply to those public office holders whose roles and functions are necessarily of a political or partisan character, namely, Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries or their staff. However, the political activities of exempt staff remain governed by Treasury Board's Policies for Ministers’ Offices, and the political activities of House of Commons staff are governed by the by-laws established by the Board of Internal Economy.
Context
Public office holders Footnote 1 discharge important public duties and accordingly are expected to comport themselves in a manner befitting the trust and confidence reposed in them. The essence of this obligation is set out in Part I of Annex A. In addition, public office holders are governed by the applicable provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act and the Lobbying Act.
Public office holders must also ensure that their political activities are consistent with the obligation to discharge their public duties in a non-partisan manner, so as to ensure that public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of government are conserved and enhanced.
Any measures necessary to maintain the public's confidence that public office holders will discharge their function with integrity and in a non-partisan manner must be informed by the democratic rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist all public office holders in determining whether a contemplated political activity is compatible with their public duties. The Guidelines are grounded in one general principle: that a public office holder should not participate in a political activity that is or that may reasonably be seen to be incompatible with the public office holder's duty, or otherwise be seen to impair his or her ability to discharge his or her public duties in a politically impartial fashion, or would cast doubt on the integrity or impartiality of the office.
Public office holders exercise a wide variety of functions and come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Accordingly, it is not possible to set out, for all public office holders and for all circumstances, a set of definitive or binding rules. In all cases, public office holders should be guided by the general principle and the guiding factors set out below.
Every public office holder is under the obligation to consider these Guidelines before embarking on any political activity and, where there is any doubt, shall refrain from the activity in question.
For the purpose of these Guidelines, political activities include, but are not limited to:
- contributing money, within the law, to political parties, candidates or leadership campaigns at any level of government;
- being a member of a political party at any level of government in Canada;
- seeking nomination to run as a candidate or being a candidate in an election of any level of government in Canada; • fundraising for political purposes;
- managing a political campaign or campaigning personally on behalf of a candidate in an election;
- personally displaying campaign material;
- attending partisan or social events sponsored by one particular political party, a Minister, a Member of Parliament or a Senator where such events are exclusively or primarily of a political or partisan character; and
- expressing partisan views in a public setting where this may reasonably be seen to be incompatible with, or impair the ability to discharge, the office holder's public duties.
Political activities do not include attending all-party candidates meetings in order to inform one's right to vote, or expressing partisan views in a private setting. In addition, in all cases all public office holders have the right to vote.
General Principle
A public office holder should not participate in a political activity that is, or that may reasonably be seen, to be incompatible with the public office holder's duties, or reasonably seen to impair his or her ability to discharge his or her public duties in a politically impartial fashion, or would cast doubt on the integrity or impartiality of the office.
Guiding Factors
In considering whether the general principle applies in a given situation, public office holders should be guided by the following factors:
- The nature of the organization, including whether it is quasi-judicial in character, in which case a much more stringent standard is required.
- The nature of the public office holder's duties, including:
- the level of authority within the organization;
- the level of influence over others;
- the degree and type of discretion vested in the public office holder;
- the type and level of involvement in the development of policy;
- the relationship with or connection between the public duties and the contemplated political activity;
- whether the duties are full-time or part-time;
- the visibility and profile of the public office holder's duties; and
- the impact of the public office holder's duties on the public.
- The nature of the contemplated political activity, including:
- its profile or visibility; and
- its active or passive character.
- The duty of loyalty to the Government of Canada.
[Section omitted as not relevant to CATSA Directors]
Administration and Interpretation
Compliance with these Guidelines is a term and condition of appointment. Before appointment, a public office holder shall certify that he or she will comply with these Guidelines.
It is recognized that there will be circumstances in which either the participation of public office holders in political activities has not been covered under these Guidelines, or the application of these Guidelines is unduly restrictive. The general principle and guiding factors are controlling, and resort should be had to these in all cases. Inquiries about these Guidelines and their interpretation should be addressed to the Privy Council Office (or where the Public Service Employment Act is engaged, the Public Service Commission) before a public office holder commences the proposed activity. Where there is any doubt, public office holders are expected to refrain from the contemplated activity or to resign from office in order to undertake it.
As stated above, persons subject to either Part 7 or section 117 of the Public Service Employment Act should take note of the substantive provisions of that Act, and must refer questions about their obligations under that Act to the Public Service Commission.