A senior Department of Public Works manager was dismissed for nepotism and misuse of public facilities. Authorities would not name the manager, but called the misconduct a “serious breach” of its ethics code, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The departmental investigation process found allegations of wrongdoing were founded and did constitute serious breaches of the Values And Ethics Code For The Public Sector,” the department said in a statement. “The importance of avoiding conflict of interest including any potential or apparent conflict is a fundamental aspect of the department’s standard of conduct,” it added..It was the second known firing for nepotism at the department in the past two years. Supervisors learned of the latest wrongdoing from a whistleblower, the department said..The unidentified manager hired relatives as contract employees, “used department IT for personal business or personal profits,” “failed to disclose outside employment,” “failed to cooperate with departmental oversight branch investigators” and “failed to take steps to disclose, avoid and recuse themselves from the conflict of interest.”.“Avoiding and preventing situations that could give rise to a conflict of interest or the appearance of conflict is one of the primary means by which a public servant demonstrates integrity and maintains public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of the federal public sector,” the department said..Nepotism remains a firing offence in all branches of the public service. Despite sanctions, a majority of staff surveyed by the Public Service Commission, 53%, “believe appointments depend on who you know,” according to a 2022 questionnaire..Findings were drawn from a Staffing And Non-Partisanship Survey of 75,440 federal workers. Asked if “the process of selecting a person for a position is done fairly,” 26% disagreed. Asked if “staffing activities are carried out in a transparent way,” 31% disagreed..Censure of federally-regulated employers caught hiring immediate family applies to Members of Parliament. Former Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi (Don Valley East, ON) in 2020 was expelled from the government caucus on disclosures she’d hired her sister as a constituency office aide..Ratansi did not seek re-election after five terms..“The past many months have, to say the least, been difficult for me and my family,” Ratansi said in her farewell address to the House of Commons. “They have indeed been a struggle.”.An investigation by the Ethics Commissioner confirmed Ratansi’s sister had been on the payroll for eight years in breach of the Conflict Of Interest Code For Members..“The vast majority of all MPs follow those rules,” the prime minister said at the time.
