Message from Clerk Hannaford to deputy ministers, heads of separate agencies, and heads of federal agencies (October 2024)

Values and Ethics Update: Our Journey Ahead

Colleagues,

Just over a year ago, we embarked on a journey to renew the dialogue on how to bring our values and ethics to life in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world.

I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished as a public service and inspired by the eagerness with which public servants have engaged in this dialogue. The What Unites Us, Defines Us: Values and Ethics in Today’s Federal Public Service symposium provided us with an important opportunity to both reflect and build on our roles as public servants. I am very pleased with the broad reach of this event, with more than 15,000 online connections, over 20 regional and international events, and countless gatherings at the team and organizational levels. I am also grateful to everyone involved, who made it a success.

The values and ethics journey is one of continuous learning and improvement. Through engagements this past year, public servants have sought clarity on how to fulfill our unique role and responsibilities and how to embrace new ways of working to better serve democracy and deliver excellence for Canadians.

New supports and tools

Over the past few months, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO), the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada have worked to update and design guidance and materials to address key topics identified by employees, including the use of artificial intelligence, the personal use of social media, guidance for managers, and conflicts of interest. These resources are available in the symposium’s virtual kiosks. As part of these resources, I also recorded a video welcoming new employees to the public service; I invite you to include it in your organization’s onboarding materials.

An important outcome of the symposium is that it demonstrated the importance of creating opportunities for having honest conversations on values and ethics and addressing challenges and setbacks with openness and transparency. It also showed the power of storytelling. The symposium was an important step forward, but it is not the end.

To continue this momentum, I have asked Deputy Clerk Fox to work with OCHRO to refine the draft social media guidance, in alignment with national and international best practices, by spring 2025.

Similarly, to ensure we continue to strengthen our awareness and understanding of our values and ethics, the President of CSPS, Taki Sarantakis, announced the creation of a permanent Values and Ethics Chair at the CSPS, which will be named after the late Ian Shugart.

Next steps

Last spring, you submitted self-assessments on how your organizations were advancing the dialogue on values and ethics and the Forward Direction of the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service (Call to Action). Your responses to the self-assessments are available online and have also been summarized in two progress reports: one on values and ethics and one on the Call to Action.

Your reports have shared best practices, showcased work underway in your departments and identified gaps that need to be addressed. I am now calling on you to further your efforts to advance values and ethics in your respective organizations by building on this work, and on all that we heard and learned at the symposium. More specifically, by spring 2025, I am asking that you:

• update your organizational codes of conduct;
• produce departmental disclosure of wrongdoing and misconduct reports;
• require employees to resubmit conflict of interest attestations annually; and
• embed consequential accountability for progress in advancing the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service through this year’s performance cycle.

I announced these next steps during my keynote speech at the symposium. They build on many of the tools and best practices that were shared at the event. I expect us to continue using existing governance tables, such as the Public Service Management Advisory Committee, to share progress over the coming months in advance of spring 2025.

Thank you once more for your leadership in this area. I am confident that, by working together, we can continue to advance our efforts on values and ethics in the public service so that we can deliver excellence now and into the future.

Sincerely,

John Hannaford (he/him)
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet