After a series of antisemitic Facebook posts dating back to 2018 and 2019 resurfaced last week, Camille Awada resigned as president from the third-largest federal public service union, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE). He was also fired from his part-time job with the Canadian Football League. And Statistics Canada, where Awada has worked for more than 20 years as an industrial analyst, information manager and programmer, said it was launching an investigation into his comments.
In 2015, a Canada Revenue Agency employee was fired for writing social media posts that “appeared to glorify the Boston Marathon terror bombing, celebrate the deaths of NATO military personnel, and cheer the downing of aircraft,” according to a federal labour board ruling.
That same year, an Environment Canada scientist was suspended and investigated for publishing his song “Harperman” on YouTube, which called for the ouster of the Conservative government. The civil servant retired from public service rather than wait out the investigation.
But while the federal service will often cite the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector that civil servants must strictly respect, there is little in the text that offers any rules as to what public servants can — or can’t — say on social media. In fact, there is no reference to social media anywhere in the code, which first came into force in 2003.
Guidelines are needed, says law professor
Treasury Board President Anita Anand reiterated last month that all public servants are expected to adhere to the values and ethics code when speaking publicly – but conceded there were no specific guidelines on how public servants could comment on the Israel-Hamas war.
What the document does outline is the expected behaviours of public servants, including that they maintain respect for democracy and people, act with integrity in a manner that can “bear the closest public scrutiny” and maintain the employer’s trust, use resources responsibly and demonstrate professional excellence.
Levasseur said it’s critical the code be updated not only to spell out what people can and can’t share online, but also what the consequences are for breaking the rules.
“We need to have systems that guide these people,” he said.
Levasseur said it’s also important that employees remember that they represent the corporate image of an institution.
Guidelines can be misinterpreted, says union head
There are a lot of “grey areas” about what public servants can say publicly, said Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.
“As long as their speech is not against their employer, as long as they’re not hateful or breaking any of the other rules, we need to be able to have the freedom to speak as citizens,” she said. “Public servants do have a voice, we are allowed to engage in public discourse, but we have to be very, very careful because we don’t know how the employer is going to react.
“It is a fine line.”
Carr isn’t convinced specific guidelines need to be implemented to control public servants’ comments about political and social issues. She does, however, say the values and ethics code needs to be updated to reflect modern technology.
So, what guidelines are in place?
Outside of the values and ethics code, expected behaviours for public servants are set in departmental codes of conduct, said Treasury Board spokesperson Joie Huynh.
“While employees have the right to express their views, it must be done in a way that maintains a safe and respectful workplace and does not jeopardize their ability to be seen to carry out their duties in an impartial manner.”
But there is hardly any clarity, even when looking at the documents in their totality.
There is a Policy on Service and Digital that states how employees can use electronic networks and devices—which delves into responsibilities around IT and cybersecurity—but even that document fails to mention social media.
The government’s Guideline on Acceptable Network and Device Use, meanwhile, does the most fulsome job of outlining the appropriate use of social media, as it spells out the difference between professional and personal use of government electronic networks and devices. It also notes that adherence to the values and ethics code as well as departmental codes of conduct are expected for “all types of use of electronic networks, devices and Web 2.0 tools and services, including social media.”
An archived version of the document explains examples what are inappropriate uses of social media, which includes anything that is unacceptable or criminal in nature like harassment or defamation; violates government policies; negatively impacts the performance of Government of Canada electronic networks; or breaches the Duty of Loyalty requirement for public servants.
A video on the “Dos and Don’ts of Navigating Social Media as a Public Servant” produced by the Canada School of Public Service states that, whether it’s personal or professional, public servants’ social media use is “guided 24/7 by the Values and Ethics Code.”
What’s next?
The new Clerk of the Privy Council, John Hannaford, recently announced the creation of a task force of senior officials to discuss values and ethics within the public service. It has been reported, however, that Hannaford isn’t planning to “re-open the code.”
When asked whether the code will be updated, Privy Council Office spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold said the government could not presume what the recommendations of the task force may be.
“The task team’s work will be focused on fostering a renewed conversation on values and ethics – one of the Clerk’s priority areas of focus over the next year – and will support the effective management and renewal of our public service,” Bujold said, “including how to best equip public servants to live the Values and Ethics Code in the age of social media.”
