Appendix A: Assets, liabilities and trusts

Table of contents

Assets and liabilities subject to a Code of Ethics Report

All Parks Canada employees must carefully evaluate on a regular basis whether their assets and liabilities need to be included in a Code of Ethics Report. In doing so, they must take into consideration the nature of their official duties and the characteristics of their assets and liabilities. If there is any real, apparent or potential conflict between the carrying out of their official duties and their assets and liabilities, a Code of Ethics Report must be filed. If there is no relationship, no report is required.

The following is a non–exhaustive list of examples of assets and liabilities that must be reported in a Code of Ethics Report if they do, or could, constitute a conflict of interest:

  1. Publicly traded securities of corporations and foreign governments, and self–administered registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), and self–administered registered education savings plans (RESPs) that are composed of these securities, where these securities are held directly and not through units in mutual funds;
  2. Interests in partnerships, proprietorships, joint ventures, private companies and family businesses, in particular those that own or control shares of public companies or that do business with the government;
  3. Commercially operated farm businesses;
  4. Real property that is not for the private use of Parks Canada employees or their family members;
  5. Commodities, futures and foreign currencies held or traded for speculative purposes;
  6. Assets placed in trust or resulting from an estate of which the Parks Canada employee is a beneficiary;
  7. Secured or unsecured loans granted to persons other than to members of the Parks Canada employee's immediate family;
  8. Any other assets or liabilities that could give rise to a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest due to the particular nature of the Parks Canada employee's official duties; and
  9. Direct and contingent liabilities with respect to any of the assets described in this section.

Assets not requiring a Code of Ethics Report

Assets and interests for the private use of Parks Canada employees and of their family members, as well as non–commercial assets, are not subject to the compliance measures.

For example, such assets include the following:

  • Residences, recreational properties and farms used or intended for use by Parks Canada employees or their families;
  • Household goods and personal effects;
  • Works of art, antiques and collectibles;
  • Automobiles and other personal means of transportation;
  • Cash and deposits;
  • Canada Saving Bonds and other similar investments in securities of fixed value issued or guaranteed by any level of government in Canada or agencies of those governments;
  • Registered retirement savings plans and registered education savings plans that are not self–administered;
  • Investments in open–ended mutual funds;
  • Guaranteed investment certificates and similar financial instruments;
  • Annuities and life insurance policies;
  • Pension rights;
  • Money owed by a previous employer, client or partnership; and
  • Personal loans receivable from members of Parks Canada employees' immediate families and small personal loans receivable from other persons where Parks Canada employees have loaned the moneys receivable.

Divestment of assets

All Parks Canada employees must divest assets where the Chief Executive Officer determines that such assets constitute a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest in relation to their duties and responsibilities. Divestment, where required, must take place within 120 days of appointment, transfer or deployment. Divestment of assets is usually achieved by selling them through an arm's–length transaction or by making them subject to a blind trust arrangement.

Where divestment is by means of sale, confirmation of the sale, such as a broker's sales receipt, shall be provided to the Chief Executive Officer.

Where divestment is by means of a blind trust, the Senior Integrity Officer will assist and guide the Chief Executive Officer and the Parks Canada employee in setting up a blind trust and in determining whether a specific blind trust meets the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Measures. The Senior Integrity Officer will also make recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer on the reimbursement of certain trust costs to the Parks Canada employee by the home organization.

Managers should remember that they have a continuing responsibility to provide current print material to employees who do not have access to the intranet.

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