Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to transparency. Information that is not shared publicly is withheld only in compliance with applicable legislation. The access to information release package in question does not reference a “secret oath” in connection with the vaccine contracts, nor were confidentiality requirements themselves a secret. Section 54 of the Public Service Employment Act, PSEA, requires employees in the core public service to affirmation as a condition of employment that they will not, without due authority, disclose or make known any matter that comes to their knowledge by reason of such employment. Public servants are also subject to the Treasury Board Secretariat’s “Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector”, the code of conduct applicable to their particular organization, and other statutory and policy obligations of confidentiality in accordance with the security clearance or status required of their position.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Health Agency of Canada, PHAC, officials worked closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada, PSPC, and other departments to ensure vaccines were available for Canadians.
In the context of COVID-19 vaccine procurement, confidentiality agreements and/or non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, initially were required as a precautionary measure to reinforce the importance of protecting confidential business information that was shared during contract negotiation discussions. Subsequently, it was recognized that public servants’ existing obligations that are a condition of their employment were sufficient and an additional agreement was not needed. It is expected that public servants are to meet their obligations to maintain confidentiality of commercially sensitive information and to adhere to their organization’s standard procedures for reporting conflicts of interest. This is documented in the referenced access to information release package.
Employees who were asked to sign confidentiality agreements and/or NDAs included those who worked closely with PSPC on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, or required access to the agreements to support planning for subsequent distribution, management and administration of the vaccine. This approach mirrored industry practices and reflected the requirement to manage confidential business information by all signatories. Requests for signature of the confidentiality agreements and/or NDAs to support COVID-19 contract negotiations and discussions were overseen by PSPC.