The lavish meals and controversial bills of the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM) symbolize a political class that leads the way when it serves the public interest. Where do we draw the line between acceptable business expenses and personal benefits that are clearly unethical? Expert answers.
After the revelations in the Journal de Montréal, which specifically cite bills totaling $18,000 at major Montreal restaurants in three years and trips around the world, some are finding it difficult to understand the leadership style of this organization that is being questioned public opinion was founded on problems.
Kadia Georges Aka, professor at the Department of Administration at the University of Moncton and expert in business ethics, recalls that the OCPM has actually developed a code of ethics (New window) to which the commissioners are subject.
He specifically cites Rule 18: Commissioners shall respect the law and the Office’s rules of procedure, policies and general guidelines. When making decisions that affect the smooth running of a mandate, they observe the principle of proper management of human, material and financial resources.
The President of the OCPM also emphasized this aspect in her response of November 6th, ensuring that representation costs are limited to 1% of the annual budget, a long-standing practice. But in reality, the sound management mentioned remains different depending on the interpretation we make of it, qualify experts interviewed by Radio-Canada.
“Open bar”
Yves Lacroix, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Sherbrooke, describes an open cash stance within a certain percentage of the budget reserved for representation costs. [Plutôt que] “To think about each trip in terms of its relevance, we preferred to be consciously blind and create a comfort zone in which we avoided thinking about actions,” he analyzed in the program “Les faits d’on board “.
Although approved, the spending is not necessarily acceptable, as shown by the reaction of the Montreal opposition, which called for the resignation of Dominique Ollivier, president of the OCPM from 2014 to 2021.
“We have to distinguish between the ethics of the organization and that of the individual, and this is where the gray area lies,” added Kadia Georges Aka.
Since it is the individual who must apply ethical rules, we influence the individual’s values when it comes time to make decisions.
According to his colleague, what is required is not so much individual values, but rather the values in situations that determine morale. What values does a manager mobilize to, for example, invite a subordinate to a restaurant?
Resignation?
The Dominique Ollivier affair has acted as a catalyst in recent days. Elected officials, including democratic hygiene advocates, wondered whether this was going too far. Let’s set rules, yes, but that the demand for exemplary behavior is no longer met and goes so far as to demand the resignation of an elected official who has not officially left the regulatory framework?
According to the current code of ethics, there are clearly defined measures, a gradation of sanctions, but there is no mention of resignation, recalled Mr. Aka.
For her part, the current president of the OCPM, Isabelle Beaulieu, promised a complete review of the process related to the representation of her organization, its rules and its practices. Will this measure be enough?
Basically, the sanction is political in nature, it is no longer even ethical, replies Mr. Lacroix. Questionable behavior occurred […] Can the city government afford to continue this type of survey with one person managing its budget?
Mayor Valérie Plante reiterated on Tuesday that Ms. Ollivier is still the right person to take over the presidency of the executive committee and present the city’s next budget, expected on November 15.