EPAC-Sponsored Events
Ethics in the New Normal: Getting Through and Beyond COVID-19
EPAC’s highly popular April 9 brainstorming webinar focussed on current ethics challenges in the COVID-19 period. Participants wanted more; so our next webinar will look to the post-COVID future:
What ethical challenges will arise when some organizations ramp up to resume their suspended operations, while others pivot in new directions? And how should ethics in organizations ‘ramp up’, or will it need to ‘pivot’ too? Will there be novel ethical issues in how to treat employees?
The facilitators will again be Chris MacDonald, business ethics professor at Ryerson University, and Robert Czerny, EPAC past-president. The webinar is offered free of charge to members and non-members alike.
December 11 webinar – Through the Looking-Glass: Public Sector Ethics Now and Beyond
Join a discussion of foundations, current conditions and future directions in public sector ethics with Ralph Heintzman.
In this conversational and interactive webinar, Mr. Heintzman will respond to questions from our interviewer (Robert Czerny, past chair of EPAC) and to those posed by participants. This is a great opportunity to contribute your thoughts on the state of public sector ethics.
As vice-chair of the Tait Report (1996) working group, Ralph Heintzman helped to launch the current era of values and ethics in the federal public service. Subsequently he headed the government’s Office of Public Service Values and Ethics. He continues his interest in public sector ethics as a senior fellow in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and of Massey College (University of Toronto). For instance, Mr. Heintzman addressed the EPAC conference on May 8 that examined the legacy of the Tait Report (see http://epac-apec.ca/tait-conference-materials/); and the June 22 edition of the Globe and Mail ran his commentary on the reaction of the Clerk of the Privy Council to the Auditor-General’s findings regarding the Phoenix pay system.
Read more >
Informal Lunch-time Round-Tables in Ottawa
Informal Lunch-time Round-tables in Ottawa
Our lunch-time round-tables are an informal get-together for networking and ethics discussion. We hold six per year, on different days of the week.
There are no set topics and the conversation covers whatever the participants wish. This is also an opportunity to share information with participants and make announcements about any ethics-related matters or events. There is no charge except what you choose for your lunch. Non-members of EPAC are welcome too. Please notify EPAC that you are coming at service@epac-apec.ca so that we can reserve sufficient places. Put the location and date of the event in the subject line of your email, as in “February 6 Round Table Ottawa”. Looking forward to chatting with you.
EPAC Webinar on Whisteblower Systems held October 13, 2016
Whistleblowing: Managing Risks, Reducing Harm, Increasing Value
The purpose of this 90-minute webinar was to introduce members of organizations of all types and sizes to Whistleblowing Systems – a Guide. Published by the CSA Group in February 2016 and available free from CSA Group Communities, this Guide reflects research into best practices worldwide and applies it to Canadian contexts and conditions. The webinar dealt with the purpose, design and implementation of systems to encourage a culture of ‘speaking up’ where reports of suspected wrongdoing are used to manage risk, reduce harm and increase value. See the slides in “Resources – Articles”.
The presenters were Prof. Robert Shepherd of Carleton University and Sandy Boucher of Grant Thornton LLP, two of the main contributors to the Guide. Prof. Shepherd teaches in Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration; is President of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration; Past-Chair, Consortium of Universities for Evaluation Education; and author of the whistleblowing chapter of the upcoming revised version of Greene and Shugarman’s Honest Politics. Mr. Boucher is a specialist in fraud and corruption investigations. His investigator experience includes 12 years with the Royal Hong Kong Police and 17 years in the private sector.
June 2016 Webinar
Organisational Ethics and Bad Behaviour Investigations – Scorched Earth or Rebuilding?
April 2016 Webinar
“Charbonneau Commission Followup: Ethics Lessons for Quebec and Elsewhere”
See PPT slides here: Charbonneau Webinar April 2016 FINAL
The Charbonneau Commission spent four years looking into possible collusion and corruption in contracting and management of public contracts in Québec’s construction industry. The Commission’s Report recommends better monitoring of public sector contracting, better support and protection of whistleblowers, and more internal expertise in organizations giving public contracts, such as the Transport Ministry; they also address the financing of political parties, ethical training for professionals, and the accountability of professional bodies.
Our speaker was Diane Girard, former director of EPAC and founder of RÉOQ, the Québec Organizational Ethics Network. Diane has been doing ethics training and consulting since 1997. She also teaches ethics at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management.
“This was a high-quality webinar on the Charbonneau Commission. Good moderation. Interesting and topical content. Well-designed slides. Flawless interface that made audience participation easy”. – James De Monte, Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Ontario
« Un gros merci à toute l’équipe qui a organisé le webinaire hier. J’ai vraiment aimé ce format. P.S. Je suis contente de vivre dans une province où les vilains ont plus de chance d’être arrêtés! » – Monique Boivin, Gatineau (QC)
