QUEBEC EDUCATION ACT
CODE OF ETHICS for LBPSB COMMISSIONERS
175.1 The council of commissioners must, by by-law, establish a code of ethics and professional conduct which is applicable to the commissioners.
“The code shall set out the duties and obligations of the commissioners,…and may prescribe standards ….The code must, among other things,…..
(4) specify the duties and obligations of commissioners even after they leave office;….”
There is an addendum needed in the LBPSB Code of Ethics due to the actions of the former chairman….Even he noted, in a press release, last fall, something about “an unexpected business opportunity” and “possibility of conflict of interest….. ” (referring to Ameresco)
LBPSB should emulate other boards with something like this:
Duties and obligations of commissioners after leaving office
“All the obligations provided for in the present by-law regarding conflicts of interest continue for the duration of two (2) years after the end of the commissioners mandate except the obligation of confidentiality regarding information pertaining to the reputation and the private lives of others or confidential information as defined under the present code or the Act Respecting Access to Documents Held by Public Bodies and the Protection of Personal Information, in which case the obligations apply indefinitely. “
Furthermore, commissioners at the LBPSB are expected (it’s in their code) to remain silent for four (4) years after they leave the board…The length of this code of silence is absurd – and found nowhere else that I could find.
RECOMMENDATION: Commissioners should be prohibited from entering into business with the board fora minimum period of two years after leaving the board.
