Federal Accountability Act
The Federal Accountability Act is a statute introduced as Bill C-2 in the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament on April 11, 2006, by the President of the Treasury Board, John Baird. The aim was to reduce the opportunity to exert influence with money by banning corporate, union, and large personal political donations; five-year lobbying ban on former ministers, their aides, and senior public servants; providing protection for whistleblowers; and enhancing the power of the Auditor General to follow the money spent by the government.
The bill aimed to increase the transparency of government spending, and to establish clearer links between approved expenditures and their outcomes. The bill was passed by the House of Commons on June 22, 2006, by the Senate on November 9, 2006, and was granted royal assent on December 12, 2006.
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, was that deputy ministers became "accounting officers", reporting directly to Parliament 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.
A number of new independent oversight offices were created, reporting 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 government estimates, 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 Office of the Procurement Ombudsman reviews and investigates complaints against government procurement practices.
- The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner administers the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.
- Prohibition of gifts or other benefits to a candidate for political office that influences or appears to influence the performance of that office if elected.
- Individual political contributions limited to $1,100 to different aspects of a single political organization: $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.
- Corporations, unions and organizations were banned from contributing to parties and candidates.
- Candidates must report all gifts over $500 to the Chief Electoral Officer.
- Senior public officials prohibited from engaging in lobbying for 5 years after their employment has ceased.
- Proposed 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.
- Increased scope of the Access to Information Act, to cover a number of Crown Corporations, which can now be called upon by the public to disclose their records.
- 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.
History
The Federal Accountability Act was the first bill to be tabled by the newly elected Conservative Government. It took about nine months to pass and was significantly amended in the Senate.The development of the Act was informed by the Conservative Party election platform for the January 2006 election and by Phase 2 of the Gomery Report.
When delivering his sponsor's speech in Parliament, John Baird described it as the "toughest anti-corruption law ever passed in Canada".