Gomery Commission / Commission Gomery

Media Advisory
Toronto Roundtable

4 October 2005, Ottawa: The Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities will hold the third roundtable working session of its Phase II program. Phase II is focused on the preparation of the Commission's final report - the Recommendations Report.

Attached herewith is a list of the participants and the agenda for the meeting.

Note: Roundtable Working Session
 
Date: Wednesday, 5 October, 2005
 
Location: Toronto, Ontario
The Fairmont Royal York

-30-


For further information contact:

François Perreault
Commission Spokesperson
(613)992-1834/ (416) 368-2511/ (514)992-1363


P.O. Box 1388, Station "B", Ottawa, Ontario / C.P. 1388, succursale "B", Ottawa (Ontario)
K1P 5R4
(613) 992-1834  Fax / télécopieur (613) 992-2373

Annexe 1.0

Participants


Hon. Jean-Jacques Blais, former Post Master General, former Solicitor General for Canada, former Minister of Supply and Services and Receiver General for Canada, former Minister of National Defence, a founding member of the Government Relations Institute of Canada and currently counsel with Marusyk, Miller & Swain; Mr. Patrick Boyer, former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of External Affairs and the Minister of National Defence, a journalist, lawyer and teacher and the author of "Just Trust Us: The Erosion of Accountability in Canada"; Mr. Robert Giroux, former Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada, former Controller General, former President of the Public Service Commission, former Deputy Minister of Public Works Canada, former Deputy Minister of National Revenue, Customs and Excise, former President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and, currently, Chair of the Canadian Council of Learning and Senior Fellow with the School of Public Policy, University of Ottawa; Mr. Arthur Kroeger, former Deputy Minister of six different federal government departments, former Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto and Queen's University, former Chancellor of Carleton University, former Chair of the Public Policy Forum and currently Chair of the Canadian Policy Research Networks and the National Statistics Council; Ms. Claire Morris, former Secretary to the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council for the government of New Brunswick, former Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Human Resources Development Canada and Labour for the federal government, former Chairperson of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission and, currently, President and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; Hon. Barbara McDougall, former Minister of External Affairs, former Minister of Employment and Immigration, former Minister of Privatization and Regulatory Affairs, former Minister of State for Finance, former President of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and, currently, a director of a number of Canadian corporations, an advisor with the law firm of Aird & Berlis and an Honourary Governor of York University; Hon. Gordon Osbaldeston, a former federal public servant for over thirty years, a former Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary of Cabinet, he served on the Board of Directors of numerous Canadian companies following retirement and as a Senior Fellow and Professor Emeritus of the University of Western Ontario; Dr. Lorne Sossin, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Toronto, a former faculty member at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Associate-in-Law at Columbia Law School, formerly associated with Borden & Elliott and clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada; Mr. Hugh Winsor, a visiting fellow to the Institute of Policy Studies at Queen's University, an emeritus member of The Globe and Mail's Ottawa Bureau where he specialized in political topics including the structure of cabinet and government and parliamentary and electoral reform.


Annexe 2.0

Discussion Agenda - Roundtable Questions
  1. Advertising and Sponsorship

    Should government advertising and sponsorship programs be insulated from political influence?

    If so, how?

  2. Responsibility

    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?

  3. Accountability

    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?

  4. (Accountability)

    What sanctions, if any, should be imposed on public servants, elected officials, exempt staff and others who abuse public funds?

  5. Transparency

    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?

  6. (Transparency)

    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?

  7. (Transparency)

    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?

  8. General

    What protections should be afforded to public servants who believe they have witnessed impropriety in the management of government programs ("whistle blowers")?

  9. (General)

    How can government departments and officials learn from their mistakes and develop lessons learned that will not be impeded by inappropriate political influences?