Outreach and Outside Activities

The Senate Ethics Officer keeps abreast of developments on ethics and conflict of interest issues and reaches out to others interested in these issues.

The SEO maintains close working relationships with provincial and territorial ethics offices across the country, as well as with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner who is responsible for the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. The SEO is a member of the Canadian Conflict of Interest Network, a group of ethics commissioners and ethics officers who provide advice to legislators and/or senior public officials and who meet once a year to draw on their collective experiences and efforts to improve ethical practices in government.

The SEO also strives to foster strong ties with professionals, academics, practitioners and organizations that are involved in ethics and conflict of interest. Remaining connected to this very specialized community helps develop long-term relationships with people and organizations who have experience and knowledge in this growing area of interest. These exchanges provide opportunities to share policies, best practices, ideas, and also to better understand the similarities and differences between the Senate system of conflict of interest and those in other jurisdictions, both in Canada and abroad.

The SEO is also a member of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL), a United States based not-for-profit international organization of government ethics administrators and practitioners. COGEL members work in the fields of governmental ethics, freedom of information, elections, lobbying, and campaign finance.

The Office of the Senate Ethics Officer is a founding member of the « Le Réseau francophone d’éthique et de déontologie parlementaires », an international non-for-profit organization whose members are public institutions of La Francophonie practising in the areas of parliamentary ethics and conflict of interests.