Citizen Advisory Committees (CAC) conflict of interest assessment

Guideline

1. Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) members:
   1. must perform their duties and arrange their private affairs in such a manner that public confidence and trust in the integrity and impartiality of CACs is maintained and enhanced
   2. have an obligation to act in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not necessarily fully discharged by simply acting within the letter of the law
   3. will not have private interests, other than those permitted pursuant to these Guidelines, that would be affected particularly or significantly by CAC activities in which they participate
   4. on appointment to a CAC, and thereafter, will arrange their private affairs in a manner that will prevent real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest from arising. If such a conflict does arise between the private interests of a member and the CAC duties and responsibilities of that member, the conflict will be disclosed to the Operational Unit Head and resolved in favour of the public interest
   5. will not solicit or accept transfers of economic benefit, other than incidental gifts, customary hospitality or other benefits of nominal value, unless the transfer is pursuant to an enforceable contract or property right of the member
   6. will not step out of their CAC roles to personally assist offenders or other persons in their dealings with the Service or the Parole Board of Canada where this would result in real or apparent preferential treatment to any person
   7. will not knowingly disclose to an unauthorized person, take advantage of, or benefit from, information that is obtained in the course of their CAC duties and responsibilities and that is not available to the public
   8. will not directly or indirectly use, or allow the use of, government property of any kind for anything other than for officially approved activities
   9. will not act, after they leave a CAC, in such a manner as to take improper advantage of their previous membership
   10. must not accord preferential treatment in relation to any CAC matter to family members or friends, or to organizations in which the member, family members, or friends have an interest
   11. must take care to avoid being placed, or appearing to be placed, under obligation to any person or organization that might benefit from special consideration by the member

2. The assessment tool (attached at Annex C) will assist in making decisions regarding situations that may place a CAC member in real, potential or apparent conflict of interest in relation to the categories of activities listed in the following sections.

3. CAC members cannot participate on a board of investigation as community members.
4. The following activities indicate the presence of a non-manageable conflict of interest:
   1. a CAC member who is the owner of a company that contracts with Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)
   2. any other arrangement whereby a CAC member would receive remuneration directly or indirectly from CSC
5. Situations which need to be assessed to determine the level of manageability may include a CAC member who:
   1. holds a subcontract with a company, organization or individual which has a contract with CSC
   2. is part of the board of directors of a company or organization which contracts with CSC
   3. makes representation for a company, organization or individual which holds a contract with CSC, or
   4. works for a company, organization or individual which holds a contract with CSC
6. While there may not be a direct contracting relationship, it is important to consider whether a person in this situation could be, or could be seen to be, impartial in providing advice to CSC on its operations, given their relationship with a CSC contractor.

7. Non-contractual activities include, but are not limited to:
   1. program delivery
   2. non-security escorts
   3. volunteer activities directly with offenders
   4. visits with offenders at another operational site

8. Community activities include, but are not limited to, the following activities performed by CAC members either in a voluntary capacity or in the course of their employment within the community:
   1. business owner (e.g. commercial services)
   2. volunteer services (non CSC)
   3. government elected officials
   4. police services

9. Should a conflict of interest be identified, an assessment of the situation will be completed by the Operational Unit Head and local CAC Chair or delegate to determine the manageability of the conflict.
10. The assessment should include the scope of the relationship, media interest, and the potential for legal challenge. Practical questions should also be considered, such as, whether the conflict can be effectively managed by:
    1. asking the member to avoid or withdraw from the specific activities, relationships or situations that place the member in a real, potential, or apparent conflict of interest relative to his or her CAC duties and responsibilities, or
    2. asking the member to temporarily withdraw themselves from their CAC activities or to temporarily suspend their membership until such time as the circumstances resulting in the conflict of interest are resolved
11. A recommendation regarding the strategy to manage the conflict must be included in the assessment which will be sent to the Regional Deputy Commissioner.

Acting Assistant Commissioner,
Communications and Engagement,

Original Signed by:
Bev Arseneault

CD 023 – Citizen Advisory Committees
CD 041 – Incident Investigations

Citizen Advisory Committees’ Resource Manual – Chapter 2, CAC Conflict of Interest Guidelines

Conflict of interest: a situation, relationship or activity that places a current or prospective CAC member in a real, potential or apparent conflict between their personal interests and their CAC membership duties and responsibilities.

Contract: an agreement enforceable by law, which creates an obligation to do or not do a particular thing. A contract can include an arrangement between CSC and a person, persons, or entity that provides goods or services to CSC for which the person, persons, or entity receive remuneration. The arrangement may be of any form (verbal*, written, or other). For a contract to be valid and legally enforceable, there must be: (1) capacity to contract; (2) intention to contract; (3) mutuality of agreement; (4) consideration, (5) legality of purpose and sufficient certainty of terms.

*CSC should not enter into verbal contracts of any kind as they do not offer any legal protection to the Crown.

Manageable conflict of interest: a risk associated with a conflict of interest which has been deemed as acceptable and controllable, and for which a conflict management strategy can be identified.

Non-contractual and community activities: activities that are not part of the responsibilities of CACs as defined in Commissioner’s Directive 023 – Citizen Advisory Committees. This includes, but is not limited to, program delivery, non-security escorts, or the provision of items or services to offenders or staff either in a voluntary capacity or in the course of their employment within the community.

Non-manageable conflict of interest: a risk associated with a conflict of interest which lends itself to compromise the interests of the CAC to an extent that is unacceptable and/or uncontrollable.

Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations, subsection 7(3)

Citizen Advisory Committees

(3) No staff member or offender may be appointed to a Citizen Advisory Committee.

Type of Appointment: New Appointment Renewal

Name of Applicant (current or prospective member): _

Application / Membership Renewal Date: _

Operational Unit: __

Completed by: Date:

Please refer to Commissioner’s Directive 023 and the Guidelines on Citizen Advisory Committees (CAC) Conflict of Interest Assessment for instructions and definitions.

STEP 1 – Disclose
STEP 2 – Assess
STEP 3 – Manage

The provision of this information will assist in identifying conflict of interest situations. If the response to any question is "YES", please provide the nature, duration and scope of activity in the “Details” column.

If space is insufficient, please use additional paper and attach it to this document.

Questions to determine whether the conflict of interest is manageable or non-manageable based on information provided in the “Details” column above.

1. Would the applicant’s disclosed activity (described above) compromise his/her obligation or duty to the CAC? (Could it raise questions of bias or impropriety?)
2. Would the applicant have access to information that would benefit him/her (provide an unfair advantage) in his/her disclosed activity?
3. Does the applicant have the ability to influence or alter the outcome of decisions (made by either the CAC or an outside organization) to his/her benefit or that of other parties?
4. If the circumstances were made fully public, how would a reasonable person interpret/judge the situation?
5. What is the degree of incentive for the applicant to compromise the interests of the CAC?

Identify the strategy which will be used to manage all conflicts deemed manageable. Risk must be identified as acceptable and controllable.

1. What mechanisms can be implemented to prevent/reduce conflict of interest likelihood and impact?

Examples:

• Disclose
• Divest / cease from disclosed activities that pose conflicts
• Monitoring – periodic updates on status

Regional CAC Coordinator Review – Comments: