Federal government public service ethics: managing public expectations
Date
2010-03-15T18:54:07Z
Authors
Mentzelopoulos, Athanasia Maria
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Abstract
The federal government ethics regime is built on the premise that public service values emerge spontaneously from reflection, and in particular that democratic and ethical values are among these a priori values. This thesis is an examination of this premise. It includes as part of this examination an analysis of the modern emergence of an identifiable and bureaucratized ethics practice in the Canadian federal government, starting with a privy-council led initiative in 1995. Three areas of tension engendered by this premise are also explored - empowerment, loyalty and transparency.
To further explore the claim about a priori public service values and the practical impact of the discourse on values, the RCMP Inquiry into events at the 1997 APEC meeting in Vancouver is also reviewed. The APEC meeting took place at a time when ethics was becoming central to public administration in Canada but before the formalized code and its supporting regime had been developed. Some issues explored by the inquiry into APEC will be reviewed as a window to how public service values are used in debate and to what extent democratic and ethical values, which are said to exist but had not yet been formally promulgated, were reflected in actions of public servants or drawn upon for guidance. The tensions evident in the ethics regime will be explored with respect to the APEC inquiry.
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civil service ethics, Canada