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2000 October Report of the Auditor General of Canada

October 2000 Report—Chapter 12

Appendix C—Purposes and Principles of the Code of Official Conduct Recommended by the 1997 Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons

The purposes of the Code of Official Conduct are the following:

1. to recognize that service in Parliament is a public trust;

2. to maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity of parliamentarians individually and the respect and confidence that society places in Parliament as an institution;

3. to assure the public that all parliamentarians are held to standards that place the public interest ahead of parliamentarians' private interests and to provide a transparent system by which the public may judge this to be the case;

4. to provide for greater certainty and guidance for parliamentarians in how to reconcile their private interests with their public duties;

5. to foster consensus among parliamentarians by establishing common rules and by providing the means by which questions relating to proper conduct may be answered by an independent, non-partisan advisor.

All parliamentarians are expected to uphold the following principles.

1. Ethical standards

Parliamentarians shall/should act with honesty and uphold the highest ethical standards, so as to maintain and enhance public confidence and trust in the integrity of each parliamentarian and in the institution of Parliament.

2. Public scrutiny

Parliamentarians shall/should perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.

3. Independence

Parliamentarians shall/should take care to avoid placing themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organizations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties. Particular vigilance should be exercised in dealings with lobbyists.

4. Public interest

Upon election or appointment to office, parliamentarians shall/should arrange their private affairs so that foreseeable real or apparent conflicts of interest may be prevented from arising, but if a conflict does arise, it shall/should be resolved in a way that protects the public interest.

5. Gifts and personal benefits

Parliamentarians shall/should not accept any gift or personal benefit connected with their office that may reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity.