PPAS Ethics and the Public Service: Integrity and Democracy Ian Greene September 10, 2014

Course Outline Kernaghan and Langford text: most widely read publication of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada Let’s introduce each other Course outline and assignments Next two weeks Group presentations in November – November 19: Senate ethics/PMO scandal – November 26: Rob Ford, Hazel McCallion, and municipal ethics commissioners

Kernaghan and Langford Ch 1 Introduction: – Public servants often unequipped to deal with the ethical dilemmas they face. (True, but Ontario has a Conflict of Interest Commissioner for public servants that has training programs: – Primary principles for responsible public servants: act in the public interest; be politically neutral; do not disclose confidential information; protect privacy of citizens & employees; provide, efficient, effective & fair service; avoid conflicts of interest; be accountable (p 2)

An ethical political system is as important to democracy as fair and free elections & human rights Current focus on ethics partly a result of scandals exposed by the media (Watergate, Sinclair Stevens, Sponsorship, Mulroney-Schreiber, Senate expenses, the Fords) Canadian public service expanded tremendously after WWII, meaning no longer a culture of ethics in each department (fed, provincial or municipal) New employees came from backgrounds with different values New ethics bodies Neo-conservative counter-revolution: contracting out Public servants can’t avoid having to resolve ethical dilemmas

Ethical Relativism Is there no right answer? What if you see what appears to you to be an obvious wrong, and you are told to ignore it and “do your job”? But across cultures and religions, there seems to be agreement about some basic values: honesty, respect, fairness. Some values are common, but skewed by culture or habit: eg. equality. Humans are more altruistic than any other species Therefore, there is a need for dialogue about right and wrong

Public and Private Morality Should private morality standards apply to the public sector? Difference between private morality, and public sector ethics Practical ethics: application of principle to practice. Is practical ethics relevant both to the private and public sectors? A Question of Ethics study: most Canadians think that private ethical dilemmas should not be open to public scrutiny. If it’s not OK to lie to your family, is it OK for a politician to lie to the public “in the public interest”? This is the issue of “dirty hands.”

Do constitutional, legal and economic rules provide all the answers? Some, but not all Judges apply the constitution and the law, but the law is general and good judges disagree about how it should be applied in “hard cases.” Economic rules of the fair market are also subject to interpretation Public servants cannot avoid having to make individual ethical choices where the rules are unclear, or where the rules are unethical

Ethical Analysis Two approaches (from philosophy) to ethical analysis: – Consequentialist (similar to teleologists [telos: final cause] or naturalists): judge an action by its likely result. Eg. utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest number). Sometimes the means justifies the end. – Intentionalist (also called deontological [deon: duty]): fundamental principles must be applied instead of focusing on consequences. Eg., “do to others as you would have them do to you.” Focus on the action, not the result. Is the action morally justified? The end does not justify the means. The rule is universal. – Fortunately, these two approaches often lead to the same conclusion as to the proper action in an ethical dilemma.

Importance of Reasoning It is important to be able to justify a decision in relation to an ethical dilemma. You may be asked why you chose a particular action. You could do either an intentionalist analysis, or a consequentialist analysis, or both, and then you can be prepared to be accountable for your decision. If possible, it is useful to discuss your analysis with another person, without violating privacy. Two heads are nearly always better than one. Governments sometimes have trained “ethics counselors” in each workplace whom you can bounce dilemmas off confidentially. In Ontario, you can consult confidentially with the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner.