Multi-Stakeholder Forum Terms of Reference

Frequency

The Forum meets on a quarterly basis at a regular time to be agreed by members. However, when developing a National Action Plan, the Forum may meet more frequently to collaborate on the National Action Plan development process (for example, number of events, location, and format).

Extraordinary meetings

Members may agree to hold additional meetings. Working groups may be created to focus on specific challenges. They will meet separately and report back to the larger group at regular meetings.

Participation means

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) arranges for remote participation via teleconference or video conference and reserves a room for in-person participation unless no member participates in person. For better communication, understanding, trust and collaboration, in-person participation is encouraged. All members will meet in person once a year. TBS will provide financial support regarding expenses related to travel for the in-person meeting using the National Joint Council’s Travel Directive.  

Location

Unless otherwise agreed, the room for in-person participation is in Ottawa.

Language

Members may express themselves in either English or French. All meeting materials will be made available in English and French.

Non-member attendance

Chairs may agree to invite non-members to a meeting. For example, if members are meeting to discuss a commitment in the OGP National Action Plan, the department implementing the commitment may be invited.

Composition

The Forum will be composed of eight civil society members and four federal government members. Observers from the federal government or other sectors may be invited to meetings as agreed by members on an ad hoc basis. At least six civil society members must be representatives of Canadian civil society organizations. Member selection is guided by the principle of diversity to ensure representativeness of diverse regions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, genders and linguistic profiles on the Forum.

Selection of government members

The Forum includes high-level representatives with sufficient delegated decision-making authority from the federal government to ensure it is empowered to take action. Government representatives will include at a minimum one representative from TBS.

Selection of civil society members

The selection of new civil society members will be undertaken by a selection committee, comprised of two civil society members from the current Forum, elected by civil society members. The Forum Co-Chairs will not serve as members of the committee.

Candidates for the civil society positions on the Forum may be nominated or self-nominated as described in Appendix B.

The committee will assess the long list of nominations using the selection criteria in Appendix A to decide an initial short list, which will aim to contain at least twice as many names as positions to be filled. The short list will be made public. Short-listed candidates will be asked to provide two references and will be invited to an interview (in person where possible). The committee will make public an account of their process, deliberation and choice.

Vacancies

If a civil society seat becomes vacant, members agree on a selection schedule. The same pool of verified applicants is used to fill vacancies.

Term

Members are elected for four-year terms. Terms will be staggered, beginning the month and year that a new member assumes their position. Terms may be extended for a one-year period thereafter with no limit.

Onboarding

New members will be provided with appropriate information and training to ensure common understanding and expectations. This support will include a scheduled call with incoming members.

Description of offices and responsibilities

• Chairs: The Forum has a Government Chair and a Civil Society Chair. Chairs prepare draft agendas for meetings and amend the agendas based on other members’ comments. Each Chair alternately chairs the meetings. In meetings, a Chair can delegate responsibilities to another member. Chairs also represent the Forum in any public documentation that may be issued, such as blog posts or feedback reports.
• Secretariat: TBS will provide secretariat support to the Forum, such as circulating documents, preparing minutes, reserving rooms, inviting non-members, preparing communications, and so on. TBS will also provide the necessary support to ensure that Forum members are able to use the official language of their choice to fully and equally participate in Forum activities, pursuant to the conditions set out in the Official Languages Actand the TBS Policy on Official Languages.

Appointment of officers

• Government Chair: The TBS Executive Director who holds responsibility for open government policy assumes the Government Chair role.
• Civil Society Chair: The civil society members select the Civil Society Chair.

Termination

A membership is terminated when:

• the member’s organization dissolves
• the member resigns
• the member’s term expires
• the member is absent without cause from three consecutive meetings or
• the member is absent without cause from a majority of meetings in a calendar year

Notwithstanding the above, the end of a member’s term may be temporarily extended until a successor is appointed, provided that no such extension shall exceed 12 months.

Purpose

The purpose of the conflict of interest guidelines is to assist members in performing their duties for the Forum in such a manner that public confidence and trust in the integrity of Treasury Board, the Forum and the Government of Canada are maintained.

It is recognized that members serve the Forum only in a part-time capacity and have expertise in the fields relevant to open government and stakeholders. Consequently, members may be associated with organizations that receive funding from Treasury Board or federal bodies. This may result in potential, real or apparent conflicts of interest that need to be managed to protect the reputations of the Government of Canada, the Forum, the members and the recipient organization.

Any member who is officially or formally connected with the proposed recipient, shall indicate his or her relationship with the proposed recipient, and shall recuse from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on the proposed recipient. However, such a recusal should not affect the existence of the quorum.

Meaning of conflict of interest

A conflict of interest arises whenever a member has a personal interest likely to influence the exercise of his or her Forum duties and responsibilities.

A personal interest relates inter alia to an economic benefit that may be granted or provided to a member, to a member of his or her immediate family or to an organization with which the member is formally or officially connected.

A real conflict of interest exists at the present time, an apparent conflict of interest could be perceived by a reasonable observer to exist, whether or not it is the case, and a potential conflict of interest could reasonably be foreseen to exist in the future.

Disclosure

The Forum and TBS depend on members to disclose their individual conflicts of interest, if any, on an ongoing basis and as they arise. Members should complete annually a disclosure form and submit it in confidence to the Chairs of the Forum. In addition to completing the annual disclosure forms, members should report to the Chairs all real, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest which exist from time to time. The Civil Society Chair shall report all of his or her real, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest which exist from time to time to the Multi-Stakeholder Forum.

Members will review each Forum meeting agenda with a view to identifying any potential conflicts of interest and shall declare the conflict at the outset of the meeting.

General duty to resolve conflicts of interest

A member will recuse him or herself from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on any matter in respect of which he or she would be in a conflict of interest.

Where practical, members will avoid or withdraw from participation in activities or situations that place them in a real, potential, or apparent conflict of interest. Members are encouraged to review their activities and affiliations to determine whether these might be perceived by an unsympathetic observer to present a conflict of interest with their role as members and to discuss with the Chairs whether steps need to be taken to resolve the perceived conflict of interest.

It is impossible to foresee every situation that could give rise to a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest. Where there is doubt as to whether a real, potential, or apparent conflict of interest exists or whether any particular action is likely to bring into question the integrity of TBS or the Forum, members shall raise the matter with the Chairs for advice and guidance.

The Chairs will ensure that an agreement is reached between the member and the Multi-Stakeholder Forum to address the conflict of interest in a manner that preserves and protects the reputations of all involved.

Means

Within the Forum, members may communicate between meetings via email and/or mailing lists. The Forum will use Google Docs as the default application for sharing and collaborating on documents. The Forum may communicate with external stakeholders through websites, newsletters, social media, mailing lists and so on. The Forum may present at existing open government events and may organize new events. TBS will publish Forum information and materials on the open.canada.ca site in English and French.

Accountability

The Forum publishes online meeting minutes and agendas within six weeks, once agreed by the members. Members may agree to publish additional documents about Forum activities. External stakeholders should be invited to comment on the information provided and to ask questions and request information. The Forum should act on and respond to feedback.

Participation

The Forum should normally publish online notices of meetings and opportunities to comment in advance of meetings, and other notices for public participation.