Federal public servants must now certify every year that they are free of conflicts of interest as Ottawa tightens ethics requirements following mounting concerns over insider contracting and procurement practices.Blacklock's Reporter says a Treasury Board briefing note says all federal employees are required to annually reaffirm their compliance with the government's conflict of interest rules as a condition of employment."As a condition of employment all public servants must adhere to the Directive On Conflict Of Interest and the Values And Ethics Code For the Public Sector," the briefing note, Supplementary Estimates (C), states.The memo says employees are required to identify and address "any situations of real, apparent or potential conflict of interest.""Further to this, all employees must now resubmit a conflict of interest attestation annually," the note says. "A review of the Directive On Conflict Of Interest is also underway and the results will be communicated in due course."Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali previously told the House of Commons public accounts committee in 2025 that public servants are expected to comply with the government's ethics requirements."All public servants must follow conflict of interest rules," Ali testified.The renewed focus on ethics follows a series of parliamentary investigations into federal procurement practices.In 2024, the Commons public accounts committee approved a motion calling for an outright ban on federal employees simultaneously working as government contractors after hearing testimony about a Department of National Defence employee earning a $98,000 annual salary while also serving as CEO of Ottawa-based Dalian Enterprises Inc.According to committee testimony, Dalian Enterprises received $91 million in military contracts while its CEO remained a federal employee..Federal Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic also warned MPs in 2024 that procurement rules were being manipulated to benefit preferred contractors."I don't think Band-Aid solutions are the answer," Jeglic told the Commons government operations committee."People are using the system in ways it shouldn't be used," he said. "I think there needs to be significant rethinking as to how federal procurement is done."His comments followed the release of the report Procurement Practice Review Of Contracts Awarded To McKinsey & Company, which concluded procurement processes had been altered in several instances to favour the consulting firm."There was favouritism towards McKinsey," Jeglic testified.Former Bloc Québécois MP Julie Vignola questioned whether the findings pointed to a broader problem within the federal procurement system."Are we dealing with a systemic problem here?" Vignola asked. "Are we dealing with influence peddling, collusion, perhaps problems with training of staff, perhaps all of those things?""The answer is a big one," Jeglic replied. "I was hoping I would have the opportunity to raise this. We are seeing consistent problems across the federal procurement landscape."Liberal MP Parm Bains also suggested personal relationships appeared to play a role in some contracting decisions."Things are happening where you know someone," Bains said. "All the people getting procurement processes all know one another."
