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Understanding the Role of the Canadian Ethics Commissioner: Power and Responsibilities Explained

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

It is the responsibility of the Canadian Ethics Commissioner, an independent officer of Parliament, to ensure that federal public officeholders and public officeholders in certain other organizations adhere to the Conflict-of-Interest Act and the Conflict-of-Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

The Ethics Commissioner's role is to provide confidential advice and guidance to public officeholders on avoiding conflicts of interest and investigating alleged violations of the conflict of interest rules. Also, the Ethics Commissioner may make recommendations to the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Commons, or other officials regarding possible violations of the rules and make public reports on investigations and findings.

Even though the Ethics Commissioner has the authority to investigate and make recommendations, they cannot enforce their decisions or impose penalties on public officeholders who violate conflict of interest rules. In response to the Commissioner's findings, other bodies, such as the courts or Parliament, are responsible for taking action.

As a whole, the Canadian Ethics Commissioner's role is to promote transparency and accountability in the government by ensuring that public officeholders act in the public interest and avoid conflicts of interest. The Commissioner does not have direct enforcement powers, but their findings can have significant political and reputational ramifications for those holding public office.

A recent investigation:

The Canadian Ethics Commissioner recently investigated the conduct of former Minister of Finance Bill Morneau. Morneau was found not to have repaid travel expenses paid by WE Charity for trips he and his family took to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017. We Charity, which had been awarded a government contract to administer a student grant program, had close ties to Morneau.

Morneau was investigated by the Ethics Commissioner and found to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act by not recusing himself from discussions regarding the WE Charity contract and not disclosing his affiliation with the organization. In addition, Morneau failed to disclose the gift of travel expenses from WE Charity, violating the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

As a result of the investigation, Morneau resigned as Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament. In addition to its political implications, the Ethics Commissioner's findings led to a loss of public trust in the government due to the controversy surrounding the WE Charity contract and Morneau's conduct.

Counter argument:

While the Ethics Commissioner's findings may have led to a loss of public trust in the government, it is important to note that Morneau resigned voluntarily and was not removed from his position by the Prime Minister or the Liberal Party. Additionally, the Ethics Commissioner's report did not find that Morneau acted illegally or that he had broken any laws.

Keywords: Canadian Ethics Commissioner, role, power, responsibilities.

Who was Stan Rogers

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

Stan Rogers was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 29, 1949. His parents were both musical and he was the middle child of nine children. His father played the violin and his mother played the piano. Stan Rogers grew up in a small town in Nova Scotia called Canso. His musical career began when he was just a child, and he became popular during the 1970s. His music was popular with Canadians because it dealt with topics related to Canadian life and history.

In 1973, Stan Rogers made his first television appearance on CBC's Singalong Jubilee.

Stan Rogers was heavily influenced by Canadian and Maritime music. Growing up in Nova Scotia, he was often inspired by stories and folklore. Several of his songs are based on real-life events, such as the Great Chicago Fire and the Halifax Explosion.

He is best known for his songs "Northwest Passage", "Barrett's Privateers", and "Mary Ellen Carter".

Stan Rogers composed all of his own songs. In addition, he is credited with co-writing the song "The Mary Ellen Carter" with his brother Garnet.

Throughout his career, Stan Rogers performed hundreds of live performances. Over the course of his career, he toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Stan Rogers was killed in a plane crash on July 4, 1983, en route to a folk festival in Canso, Nova Scotia. The young man was just 33 years old.

In 1986, Stan Rogers was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The Canadian Country Music Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2003.

Even 35 years after his death, Stan Rogers' music remains popular. Several well-known artists, including Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, and the Canadian band Great Big Sea, have covered his songs.

Stan Rogers was the subject of a documentary produced by the CBC in 2017 entitled "Northwest Passage: The Stan Rogers Story" Through never-before-seen archival footage and new interviews with family and friends, the film traces Stan Rogers' life and career.

Every year, the Stan Rogers Folk Festival is held in Canso, Nova Scotia, in memory of the late singer and songwriter.

As a highly influential singer-songwriter, Rogers left an indelible mark on the Canadian music scene.

Canadians can find out what data a company stores about them

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

The average consumer is starting to realize how much personal data companies collect about them. 

RELATEDHow Target knows you are pregnant through data analytics

Consumers should be concerned about what data is collected, how is is used and who it is shared with. 

Canadian privacy laws ( like Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) allow consumers to access their information (aka companies must respond to a request for personal information held by the company).

Principle 4.9: Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
— PIPEDA

PIPEDA section 4.9 mandates that companies respond to Data Access Requests within 30 days of receipt. The information must be made available for free or at a reasonable cost.

Principle 4.9.4: An organization shall respond to an individual’s request within a reasonable time and at minimal or no cost to the individual.
— PIPEDA

Some companies use legally complex wording and vague statements in their privacy policies to hide the level of detail collected and to obfuscate how it is used. The Data Access Request allows any individual to understand (and see) what has been collected and what is being done with their information. 

What is a Data Access Request?

Toronto based Citizen Lab has created and operated a site called Access My Info. The site was created to simplify how Canadian's create and submit Data Access Requests using templates. 

Testing it

I will submit a couple of test requests and see how companies respond. If you are a Canadian, I encourage you to try this as well.

Canada Promo : Buy a Google Pixelbook and a free Google Home

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

If you buy Google new premium Chromebook, the Pixelbook, you now receive a free Google Home. This promo is live now and runs until December 31, 2017, and is open to Canadian customers. 

To receive your free Google Home, all you have to do is add it to your shopping cart with the Pixelbook, and the price will be $0. 

Offer is available while supplies last (shouldn't be a problem) and remember that the Pixelbook is not available in Quebec (probably since they don't offer french keyboard, box and manuals. 

Google Store

Canada's Anti Spam Law (CASL) and what it means and CASL 2.0

technologyEdward Kiledjian

Over the last month, I received several emails asking me about CASL (the Canadian Anti Spam Law) which went into effect July 1 2014. The purpose of CASL is to protect consumers from unsolicited email messages.

Nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice. Always check with a qualified legal professional.

What is CASL

There are well written white papers by lawyers that provide the legal perspective on CASL and how it impacts business'. If that applies to you, you should go find and read some of those. The Canadian Anti-Spam Law was designed to protect canadian email addresses (.ca) from receiving unsolicited commercial messages. The main drivers are:

  • Consent  : the sender needs to secure and record detailed explicit consent from the recipient that they want to receive your marketing content
  • Identification : The law required that you clearly identify who is sending the message and who it is being send on behalf of. The recipient must have a way to easily reach you.
  • Unsubscribe :  The recipient must have a simple and clear way to unsubscribe from your mailing list. 

Each message you send must contain Identification and unsubscribe.

Not only email

Legislators made sure CASL protect canadians from multiple mediums of commercial message delivery including emails, instant messaging, social media, etc. 

Assume this applies to all mechanisms you use to contact a customer for marketing purposes.

Does this CASL apply to me?

Let me keep this simple... CASL applies to any entity pushing a marketing message and you should plan on adhering to its standards. 

Does CASL apply to not for profit organizations?

As currently worded, the law provides an exemption for government certified charities performing fund raising through emails. Conversely other revenue generating activities are not exempt. 

The identification and unsubscribe requirements of the law apply to not for profits also.

If you want to add subscribers from one list to another, then you will need explicit consent. 

Non commercial messages (aka regular business type emails) are not covered by CASL. 

You can learn more on the government's website (link)

CASL and email address harvesting

A practice used by some email marketers or resellers of marketing lists is to harvest email addresses using electronic programs to collect email addresses from websites, mailing lists, forums, etc.

CASL amends PIPEDA to forbid the activity of email harvesting.

CASL 2.0

January 15 2015 an additional provision will go into effect called the Computer Program Rules. This new provision will require express consent before the installation of a computer program on someone's PC, smartphone or other electronic device. 

This new wave of CASL comes with very stiff penalties that can reach $10,000,000 for companies. This new wave goes beyond Canadian borders. It applies to organizations (can be located anywhere) installing programs on a computer located in Canada or to Canadians installing program on computers outside of Canada (or under the direction on someone in Canada). 

This section of CASL is fairly complicated so I will let you research the interwebs for additional information if you think it applies to you. 

CASL Best practices

In addition to following the CASL requirements stated above, many organizations are also verifying receiver interest in their messages every 6 months. 

Organizations that can prove that they have an existing business relationship will have 3 years to comply but industry best practice says you should plan to comply immediately.