Information & Ethics committee  That's a very good question. Being proactive would be one solution. If the names of the people the government sent out payments to are already in the database, the government could send each person a letter of intent stating that, according to government records, they received mo

Information & Ethics committee  No, I do not.

Information & Ethics committee  The best lesson of all is to realize just how important ethics is. All of this publicity has really raised the profile of ethics; three years ago, no one really knew what ethics meant. Now, people can see how ethics rules apply to public servants, ministers and members of Parliam

Information & Ethics committee  I agree with you. One thing they could have done— they might have done it, and maybe it's in the 5,000 pages that you mentioned—is ask for a letter from the other party answering the question, “Did you enter an agreement with the WE Charity that you would actually collaborate wit

Information & Ethics committee  I would say it be questionable. You would need to document it and you would really ask yourself why they needed to use those corporate structures.

Information & Ethics committee  It's hard to say because it depends on how involved the architect was. That is an important consideration. Is their participation limited to providing some clarification or does it involve drafting the whole contract? The first question is whether that person needed to be there

Information & Ethics committee  It's a matter of transparency. A person can protect their sources in a number of ways while still being transparent. I know that doesn't quite answer your question, but it's about transparency. A person can be transparent and disclose what they can while being respectful of their

Information & Ethics committee  Unfortunately, not having had access to the details of the case, I can't say what the right penalty would be in order to make an example of the situation, but I am certain that—

Information & Ethics committee  If you follow the ball, you will agree. Otherwise, I don't know.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, the way you explain it, I would have to say yes, but what has really been documented might give us another light on this issue. I agree with you. We knew a lot about the founders, but we might not have known a lot about the organization itself. You're right. Due diligence h

Information & Ethics committee  That would be questionable for sure. I do think that it's all about what information was accessible for them at the time of the decision. What was the information that they could have asked to obtain before making the decision? What was the information that was probably protect

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you for your kind words. An integrity program is already in place, and it's quite effective. It simply needs some adjusting to address some of the emergency measures related to the current context. It's also important to share the information with people and to tell them w

Information & Ethics committee  You make a very good point. The act has to have teeth. When people violate the act, the penalty has to reflect the severity of the violation. Simply because it is a person's first violation, that does not mean the violation is not serious. The severity of the action is what matte

Information & Ethics committee  First of all, when someone apologizes, it's a polite social behaviour that people quite appreciate. Second of all, saying “I'm sorry” is often about recognizing your mistake, and telling people what you learned and what you are going to do so it doesn't happen again.

Information & Ethics committee  I would say it would be to discuss with senior policy officials to see what the procurement standards are, what the rules and regulations are, and whether we are following them. If there are some that we might not be following because of the emergency, what else can we have in pl