1. PPAL 6120 Ethics, Privacy and Access to Information
March 18, 2009
Ian Greene

2. Case studies of typical ethics dilemmas facing public servants & their resolution
 Readings:
Greene and Shugarman, Ch 7: David Shugarman (guest) and Yousef Salama
Kernaghan & Langford, Ch 4-6: Radcliffe Rose
Greene & Shugarman, Ch 3: Angela Lamers
Excerpts from Maureen Mancuso, Michael Atkinson, André Blais, Ian Greene and Neil Nevitte. A Question of Ethics: Canadians Speak Out About Their Politicians. Oxford University Press Canada, 1998; Second Edition, 2006 (distributed in class): Judy Ash

3. Conflict of interest
Occurs when a public official is in a position to use his or her public office to gain personal benefits or benefits for his or her family or party that are not available to the general public.

4. Hierarchy of coi violations
COIs that involve a financial benefit
A a real conflict of interest with no financial benefits
Failure to follow the rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest
Apparent conflicts of interest
A potential conflict of interest is not “wrong” unless one fails to take appropriate action so that it becomes a “real” conflict of interest

5. Update
2005: Independent ethics commissioner appointed for House of Commons and Cabinet – Bernard Shapiro
2006: Ethics Officer appointed for the Senate

6. Appointment of independent ethics commissioners
Ontario
British Columbia
Nova Scotia (designated judge)
Alberta
Newfd/Lab
Saskatchewan
NWT
PEI
New Brunswick
Nunavut
Manitoba
Yukon
Quebec (jurisconsult)
House of Commons
Senate

7. Conflict of Interest Events Index Pre- and Post-Commissioner Total number of substantiated “events”

8. Issues Should spouses and dependent children be included?
Can the ethics rules be improved without the impetus of a scandal?
Can a blind trust ever be blind?
Is there really such a thing as an apparent conflict of interest?