Federal Accountability Act (S.C. 2006, c. 9)
Full Document:
Assented to 2006-12-12
207. Subsection 29(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Powers
29. (1) In conducting an investigation, the Commissioner has all the powers of a commissioner under Part II of the Inquiries Act.
208. Section 36 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Request for notice of action
36. In making a report to a chief executive in respect of an investigation, the Commissioner may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, request that the chief executive provide the Commissioner, within a time specified in the report, with notice of any action taken or proposed to be taken to implement the recommendations contained in the report or reasons why no such action has been or is proposed to be taken.
209. The portion of section 37 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Report to appropriate Minister or governing council
37. If the Commissioner considers it necessary, he or she may report any matter that arises out of an investigation to the Minister responsible for the portion of the public sector concerned or, if the matter relates to a Crown corporation, to its board or governing council, including, but not limited to, when the Commissioner is of the opinion that
210. (1) Subsection 38(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Annual report
38. (1) Within three months after the end of each financial year, the Commissioner must prepare an annual report in respect of the activities of the Commissioner during that financial year.
(2) Paragraph 38(2)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(b) the number of disclosures received and complaints made in relation to reprisals, and the number of them that were acted on and those that were not acted on;
(3) Subsection 38(2) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (d):
(d.1) in relation to complaints made in relation to reprisals, the number of settlements, applications to the Tribunal and decisions to dismiss them;
(4) Subsections 38(3) to (5) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Special report
(3) The Commissioner may, at any time, prepare a special report referring to and commenting on any matter within the scope of his or her powers and duties under this Act if, in his or her opinion, the matter is of such urgency or importance that a report on it should not be deferred until the time provided for the submission of the annual report.
Marginal note:Case report
(3.1) If the Commissioner makes a report to a chief executive in respect of an investigation into a disclosure or an investigation commenced under section 33 and there is a finding of wrongdoing in the report, the Commissioner must, within 60 days after making the report, prepare a case report setting out
(a) the finding of wrongdoing;
(b) the recommendations, if any, set out in the report made to the chief executive;
(c) the time, if any, that was specified in the report to the chief executive for the chief executive to provide the notice referred to in section 36;
(d) the Commissioner’s opinion as to whether the chief executive’s response to the report to the chief executive, up to that point in time, is satisfactory; and
(e) the chief executive’s written comments, if any.
Marginal note:Opportunity to make representations
(3.2) Before making a case report, the Commissioner must provide the chief executive with a reasonable opportunity to make written comments.
Marginal note:Tabling of report
(3.3) Within the period referred to in subsection (1) for the annual report and the period referred to in subsection (3.1) for a case report, and at any time for a special report, the Commissioner shall submit the report to the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons, who shall each table the report in the House over which he or she presides forthwith after receiving it or, if that House is not then sitting, on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Speaker receives it.
Marginal note:Referral to Committee
(4) After it is tabled, every report the Commissioner stands referred to the committee of the Senate, the House of Commons or both Houses of Parliament that may be designated or established for the purpose of reviewing the Commissioner’s reports.
211. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 38:
Marginal note:Report to Agency — disclosures under section 12
38.1 (1) Within 60 days after the end of each financial year, each chief executive must prepare and submit to the Agency a report for that financial year on the activities, in the portion of the public sector for which the chief executive is responsible, respecting disclosures made under section 12.
Marginal note:Report to Minister — disclosures under section 12
(2) Within six months after the end of each financial year, the President of the Agency must prepare and submit to the Minister a report for that financial year that provides an overview of the activities, throughout the public sector, respecting disclosures made under section 12.
Marginal note:Content
(3) The report under subsection (2) must set out
(a) the number of general inquiries relating to this Act;
(b) the number of disclosures received, the number of those that were acted on and the number of those that were not acted on;
(c) the number of investigations commenced as a result of disclosures made under section 12;
(d) whether there are any systemic problems that give rise to wrongdoings; and
(e) any other matter that the President of the Agency considers necessary.
Marginal note:Report to Parliament
(4) The Minister must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.
212. Subsection 39.3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Staff
39.3 (1) The Deputy Commissioner and the officers and employees that are necessary to enable the Commissioner to perform his or her duties and functions are to be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.
Marginal note:Duties and powers of Deputy Commissioner
(1.1) The Deputy Commissioner exercises any of the powers and performs any of the duties and functions that the Commissioner may assign.
Marginal note:Scope of assigned duties and functions
(1.2) The assignment of powers, duties and functions by the Commissioner to the Deputy Commissioner may include the delegation to the Deputy Commissioner of any of the Commissioner's powers, duties and functions, including those referred to in paragraphs 25(1)(a) to (k) and the powers in sections 36 and 37, but it may not include the delegation of the Commissioner’s power or any of his or her duties in section 38.
213. The heading before section 40 of the Act is replaced by the following:
PROHIBITIONS
General Prohibitions
214. Section 40 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:False statements
40. No person shall, in a disclosure of a wrongdoing or in the course of any investigation under this Act, knowingly make a false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing, to a supervisor, a senior officer, the Commissioner or a person acting on behalf of or under the direction of any of them.
215. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 42:
Employers
Marginal note:Prohibition — employer
42.1 (1) No employer shall take any of the following measures against an employee by reason only that the employee has, in good faith and on the basis of reasonable belief, provided information concerning an alleged wrongdoing in the public sector to the Commissioner or, if the alleged wrongdoing relates to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, to the Auditor General of Canada — or by reason only that the employer believes that the employee will do so:
(a) take a disciplinary measure against the employee;
(b) demote the employee;
(c) terminate the employment of the employee;
(d) take any measure that adversely affects the employment or working conditions of the employee; or
(e) threaten to take any measure referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d).
Marginal note:Saving
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) impairs any right of an employee either at law or under an employment contract or collective agreement.
Meaning of “employer”
(3) For the purpose of subsection (1), “employer” does not include an employer in the public sector.
Contracts
Marginal note:Prohibition — termination of contract or withholding of payments
42.2 (1) A public servant or any person purporting to act on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a portion of the public sector shall not terminate any contract with Her Majesty in right of Canada or any portion of the public sector, or withhold any payment that is due and payable in respect of any such contract, by reason only that the other party to the contract or any of that other party’s employees has, in good faith and on the basis of reasonable belief, provided information concerning an alleged wrongdoing in the public sector to the Commissioner or, if the alleged wrongdoing relates to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, to the Auditor General of Canada.
Marginal note:Prohibition — entering into contract
(2) A public servant or any person purporting to act on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a portion of the public sector shall not, in considering whether to enter into a contract with a person, take into account that the person or any of the person’s employees has, in the past, in good faith and on the basis of reasonable belief, provided information concerning an alleged wrongdoing in the public sector to the Commissioner or, if the alleged wrongdoing relates to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, to the Auditor General of Canada.
Meaning of “contract”
(3) In this section, “contract” includes, but is not limited to, an agreement for the supply of goods or the provision of services, an agreement relating to real property or immoveables, a loan, a grant and a contribution, but does not include an agreement by a public servant, or by a person appointed by the Governor in Council or by a minister of the Crown, to perform the duties to which their employment or appointment relates.
OFFENCE
Marginal note:Offence and punishment
42.3 Every person who knowingly contravenes section 19 or contravenes any of sections 40 to 42.2 commits an offence and is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both that fine and that imprisonment; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both that fine and that imprisonment.
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