Provisions
The following are some of the major changes instituted by the Federal Accountability Act:
Auditing and accountability within departments
- One of the biggest changes recommended by the Gomery Commission that was implemented in the FAA is that deputy ministers were made "accounting officers," required to report directly to Parliament (as opposed to through their ministers) on the financial administration of their respective departments.
- A mechanism to resolve disputes between ministers and deputy ministers, and to document such resolutions, was also created.
Independent Oversight Offices The FAA created a host of new, independent offices who report directly to Parliament on the administration of the government.
- The Commissioner of Lobbying replaced the Registrar of Lobbyists as a fully independent office with greater investigative powers.
- The Parliamentary Budget Officer provides Parliament with objective analysis about the estimates of the government, the state of the nation's finances, and trends in the national economy.
- The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner promotes whistleblowing and protects whistleblowers from negative repercussions in the workplace.
- The Procurement Ombudsman investigates complaints against procurement practices in the government. It reviews procurement practices across government.
- The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner administers the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.
New limits on individual donations to parties and candidates
- The FAA prohibits gifts or other benefits to a candidate for political office that either does or appears like it is meant to influence his performance of that office if elected.
- The FAA limits an individual's political contributions to up to $1,100 to the various entities that make up a single political organization as follows: $1,100 to a registered party; $1,100 to a registered party’s candidates, nomination contestants, and constituency associations, collectively; and $1,100 to leadership contestants collectively. (Pg. 23)
- The FAA imposed a ban on contributions from corporations, unions and organizations to parties and candidates.
- Candidate must report to Chief Electoral Officer all gifts over $500.
Lobbying
- The FAA prohibits senior public officials from engaging in lobbying for 5 years after their employment has ceased.
Public Appointments Commission
- The FAA provided for the creation of a Public Appointments Commission to develop guidelines, review and approve the selection processes proposed by Ministers to fill vacancies within their portfolios, and report publicly on the Government’s compliance with the guidelines. (However, no such Commission has yet been created.)
Access to information
- The FAA increased the scope of the Access to Information Act. A number of Crown Corporations now fall within the scope of this legislation and can be called upon by the public to disclose their records.
Independent Prosecution
- The Public Prosecution Service of Canada was made independent of the rest of the Department of Justice, although the Director of Public Prosecutions still reports to the Minister of Justice.
Read more about this topic: Federal Accountability Act
Famous quotes containing the word provisions:
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—Charles Dickens (18121870)
“Drinking tents were full, glasses began to clink in carriages, hampers to be unpacked, tempting provisions to be set forth, knives and forks to rattle, champagne corks to fly, eyes to brighten that were not dull before, and pickpockets to count their gains during the last heat. The attention so recently strained on one object of interest, was now divided among a hundred; and, look where you would, there was a motley assemblage of feasting, talking, begging, gambling and mummery.”
—Charles Dickens (18121870)
“Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.”
—James Madison (17511836)