Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, may I congratulate you on your re-election as chair of the committee.
I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before you today. I look forward to working with all of you.
I understand that most members are new to this committee. I am pleased to be here to tell you a little bit about my mandate and role and to update you on some of my office's recent activities.
The position of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was created by amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act included in the Federal Accountability Act. I took office on July 9, 2007.
My office is an independent parliamentary entity reporting directly to Parliament. I administer two conflict of interest regimes.
The first one is under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. The code was drafted by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, approved by the House of Commons in the spring of 2004, and came into effect on the commencement of the 38th Parliament in October 2004. I carry out my duties in relation to the code under the general direction of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
The second regime I administer is under the Conflict of Interest Act. It applies to some 2,700 public office-holders, defined under the act to include cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries, ministerial staff and advisers, and most Governor in Council appointees. About 1,000 of these 2,700 are designated as reporting public office-holders, and they're subject to additional rules and reporting requirements under the act.
The Conflict of Interest Act came into force on July 9, 2007, the very same day on which my appointment was effective.
There can be some confusion about the scope of my role, so I'll say a few words about what's outside my mandate.
My responsibilities do not extend to senators or to the judiciary. Senators are subject to their own code, which is administered by the Senate Ethics Officer. Public servants are subject to the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service of Canada, which is established by the government.
I've also noticed some general confusion in the public as to my relationship with this very committee. This has occurred particularly when this committee has held hearings on particular ethical issues. It's sometimes assumed that my office is part of these deliberations. In fact, we are two separate and independent entities. The role of my office is to assist and advise members and public office-holders on their compliance obligations, to receive confidential reports and maintain a public registry, and to conduct investigations into alleged breaches of either the act or the code.
As for my reporting relationship with Parliament and with your committee in particular, the Parliament of Canada Act requires that I provide two annual reports, to be presented by June 30 for the previous fiscal year. One deals with the activities relating to members of the House of Commons and is referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The other one relates to my activities concerning public office-holders under the Conflict of Interest Act, and it's referred to your committee. You currently have my 2007-08 annual report, which I've provided to you among your briefing materials.
I've used these annual reports to highlight successes, issues, and challenges, and I intend to continue to do so. In addition to my annual reports, your committee is also responsible for reviewing my office's proposed expenditure plans or estimates and reporting them to the House.
When I appeared before this committee in November 2007, I outlined the priorities I had established for the following year. I am happy to report a number of operational and organizational improvements and accomplishments.
My focus has been and continues to be prevention. My office has undertaken a variety of activities to ensure that public office-holders understand their obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act and that we apply its provisions with consistency, clarity, and common sense. For example, we've issued guidelines on gifts and reimbursements relating to trusts, as well as information notices addressing issues of general interest relating to political activities and post-employment. We've also issued a notice clarifying how the new tax-free savings accounts, introduced in January 2009, relate to compliance requirements for public office-holders.
My staff and I have met with various groups of public office-holders, including heads and members of federal boards and tribunals, and ministers and their staff, to discuss the application of the act to their situations. These sessions are of particular importance for ministers' offices because of the relatively frequent changes in staff. I've also accepted a number of opportunities to speak publicly about my role, in an effort to increase the overall awareness of the ethics regimes for public office-holders and members of Parliament.
In the fall of last year, as we prepared to implement the new administrative monetary penalty scheme, we established a system of warning notices in relation to some of the disclosure deadlines outlined in the act. These warning notices have been very effective in promoting compliance without actually having to impose a penalty. Monetary penalties are, of course, intended to encourage compliance with the act rather than to punish.
In an election year the bulk of our work continues to be in the area of advisory services where compliance measures are reviewed or established not only for members of Parliament but also for all cabinet members, parliamentary secretaries, and their respective staff. Our advisers have been providing effective and timely services in this regard within the timelines specified in the act.
In the last year we've achieved a noticeable reduction in backlogs in the area of annual reviews. In fact, I think we've probably just about eliminated them, which I'm delighted about. By adding new tracking tools to our internal management database, we're now in a better position to manage our ongoing requirements under the act.
The extra work brought about by the election has been accomplished, in addition to responding to the numerous regular requests for advice that my advisers deal with every day and the more routine processes involved in bringing other new reporting office-holders into compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act.
We've redesigned our corporate website to make it more user friendly, and a number of information notices and guidelines can now be found on our website. We've also improved the public registry to make it more comprehensible to the general public. This new registry will be operational within the next two weeks. We've also developed an electronic public registry for members of Parliament, which will be operational shortly as well.
I've continued to make a number of organizational changes to better reflect the needs of the organization, in particular streamlining the upper management of my office. I have eliminated the position of a single deputy commissioner and replaced it with two assistant commissioners directly responsible for particular operational areas. Those two officers are the assistant commissioner of advisory and compliance, who oversees the provision of advice to clients; and the assistant commissioner of policy and communications, who oversees outreach and communications activities and assists the office in the development of clear and consistent policies and procedures.
I have a fully staffed legal services group under the direction of a general counsel, which assists my office with the interpretation of the act and the code, the conduct of examinations and inquiries, and other legal work.
The director of corporate services and her staff provide us with human resources, financial, and IT support. She has contributed much to the improvement of our record systems. I've also hired an executive adviser, who will assist me with the management of workflow in the office. She begins on Thursday this week, and I'm looking forward to that.
As for my priorities, as I've often said, I've been very impressed by the dedication to the public interest that I've seen on the part of public officials, whether elected or appointed. A continuing priority will be to support and facilitate public office-holders and members of the House of Commons in complying with the act and the code.
We will develop and put into place a coordinated outreach strategy to provide ongoing education for those subject to the code and the act--members and public office-holders--as well as the public at large and other stakeholders. We will continue to enhance and improve the information on the act and the code found on our website, and we'll continue to develop a records management system to improve the completeness and comprehensiveness of files, as well as the efficiency of the workflow.
As to members of the House of Commons, I am pleased to note that my office has recently published on our website four disclosure statement forms necessary for members to comply with their compliance requirements under the code, following their concurrence by the House. I expect to work with the new subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs created to study the rules on gifts under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.
In conclusion, I have not addressed any budgetary matters or any issues related to my office's resources, and I assume I will address these as well as the budgetary process that applies to my office during your committee's review of my proposed main estimates for 2009-10, which I believe were referred to your committee last Thursday.
I'm already working on my next annual report, and I intend to raise a number of issues and challenges I have faced in interpreting and applying the act.
As my annual report will automatically be referred to your committee, I look forward to further discussions with you on this, as well as on my office's expenditures, already referred to your committee. Finally, I would also encourage members to consult my website for further information.
I thank you for your attention, and I'd be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
