Ethics Commissioner (Canada)

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The Office of the Ethics Commissioner of Canada is a Canadian government agency of Industry Canada. It was created as a result of Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Ethics Commissioner and Senate Ethics Officer) and other Acts in consequence, which came into effect on March 31, 2004.

The current position is vacant but was formerly Dr. Bernard J. Shapiro, who assumed office on May 17, 2004 and resigned on March 29, 2007.

1 Duties of the Commissioner
2 Administrative duties
3 Counselling duties
4 Public inquiries
5 External links

[edit] Duties of the Commissioner

The duties vested in the office of the Ethics Commissioner are to administer acts of parliament relating to the ethics of the Members of the Parliament of Canada, provide confidential opinions to holders of public office relating to their duties and obligations under the Conflict of Interest Code and to conduct inquiries on the behalf of Parliament.

[edit] Administrative duties

The Acts of Parliament which the commissioner is currently charged with administrating include: The Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons and The Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders.

In administering these Acts, the commissioner is given the responsibility of ensuring all people holding public office conform to the stipulations of these two acts in their decisions which apply to their office, duties and responsibilities.

[edit] Counselling duties

The Commissioner is charged with giving his opinion, confidential when necessary, to holders of public office which request his opinion on potential actions as they relate to legislation dealing with ethics.

[edit] Public inquiries

This is the most active and controversial duty of the Commissioner.

Members of Parliament can request the Commissioner to inquire into the conduct of other members or public officials if they believe those actions compromise the Acts mentioned above.

Recent examples of the Commissioner inquiring into the conduct of members include the David Emerson scandal soon after the January 23, 2006 Canadian Parliamentary elections.