All right. I will repeat what I said about the number of times the words are used. The word “éthique“ is mentioned 45 times; “ethics” appears 291 times. The word “responsabilisation” is mentioned six times and “accountability” 141 times. The expression “reddition de comptes“, which is the exact philosophical translation of “accountability” does not appear once in the bill.
The meaning of the words used is more than just a philosophical hobby for us, it is something very important. All the French words used in the bill refer to the time before the decision, and all the English words refer to the time after the decision. In my opinion, therefore, the accountability sought in Bill C-2 is deontological rather than ethical.
My second comment has to do with the role of the ethics and integrity commissioners. First of all, it should be noted that it is a good idea to appoint them for a long period of time. However, these commissioners should be ethicists. We would stress that they should not necessarily be jurists, however, they should be ethicists. Such people do exist.
The duty of the commissioners goes beyond a strictly procedural context. They should try to pave the way toward what is just, even before or beyond procedure.
What is an ethics or integrity commissioner? The bill does not make this clear. It states that the person shall be appointed, but it does not say what he or she does or why they exist. In fact, my main question about the commissioner is whether the individual is an advisor or an investigator. That is a major distinction that should be made here.
Even though the term “commissioner” “ commissaire” is used 500 times, the duties are never mentioned. In the notes to clauses 72.01 to 72.061, there are many references to principles, rules and obligations, without ever naming the principles in question.
The bill contains many prohibitions, but I think it is rather short on ethics. We should remember that ethical actions cannot merely be a number of prohibitions. The subject is much broader than a simple accountability calculation. It includes accountability but it goes beyond that.
The lack of value principles in the bill could reduce the commissioner's role to that of a technician providing advice on how things should be done, rather than an individual who advises on why things should be done. Bill C-2 should set out broad principles and values people can use to deduce how things should be done. Simply saying how things should be done is of no use, if there are no reasons given for this. I think the 274 pages of the bill are very long on “hows” and very short on “whys”.
Thank you very much.