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Justice Gomery To Present Phase II Recommendations Report on Wednesday |
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Written by Staff/Wire
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
The Gomery Commission Phase II Recommendations Report will be delivered to the Governor in Council on Wednesday, February 1, 2006.
Mr. Justice John H. Gomery, Commissioner of the Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities will make a public statement at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on February 1, 2006.
Mr. Justice Gomery will deliver a prepared statement and respond to media questions. Documents will be posted on line immediately after release.
During this phase of the inquiry a series of five roundtable consultation sessions discussed the following queries:
--Should government advertising and sponsorship programs be insulated from political influence? If so, how?
--Do deputy ministers have sufficiently clear responsibilities and should they be protected from undue political pressure? If so, how? Is there sufficient clarity in the separation of responsibilities among elected officials, exempt staff, and public servants?
--With the growing trend to "horizontality" in government, what new measures or mechanisms are required to ensure accountability? Who should be accountable to whom and for what? For how long? Does accountability cease when a person leaves a position?
--What sanctions, if any, should be imposed on public servants, elected officials, exempt staff and others who abuse public funds?
--Should "values and ethics" guidelines for public servants be linked to specific responsibility and accountability processes to safeguard against wrongdoing: Should they be enshrined in legislation?
--What limits, if any, should there be to full transparency of government programs and management and expenditure decision/actions? What mechanisms are acceptable to protect secret/confidential information and decisions that would still allow an acceptable level of transparency to the public?
--How effective is the current Access to Information legislation? Should it be expanded? Does it ensure that public servants enforce the spirit as well as the letter of the law?
--What protections should be afforded to public servants who believe they have witnessed impropriety in the management of government programs ("whistle blowers")?
--How can government departments and officials learn from their mistakes and develop lessons learned that will not be impeded by inappropriate political influences? |
