Ethics, the main subject of an ethical debate in Quebec!
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Have we really gone crazy, here in Quebec? When corruption, embezzlement, and all kind of mix-ups are present in the construction contracts and the behaviour of some elected officials and municipal officers, ethics, the goddess with a salutary appearance, is about to sail her ship and her crew in deep-sea troubled waters. Work climate and conflict of interests are part of the same guide. Good for you!
Happy he who like Ulysses …
In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses knew that his ship had to sail near the appallingSirensIsland. In spite of all the good advice, Ulysses insisted on seeing and listening to them. So, he attached himself to the ship’s mast and he filled his sailors’ ears with wax. Once the island came into sight:
“Come with us! Ulysses! Knowledge is our treasure and we want to share it.”
Ulysses yelled asking to be detached, but his sailors understood the opposite, so they tightened him even harder! Finally, the ship passed by and the island vanished…
Ethics, an appalling siren
Nowadays, nothing can stop our leaders from getting tempted. We’ve been taken away by an abyssal tornado. The sirens’ singing pulls us towards the dangerous land of corruption, where democracy lost control.
Le Devoir from Saturday, October 29, wrote:
“Québec City offered this year a $ 69,320 contract to René Villemure, an expert in ethics, to support him in issuing an ethical guide, as requested by the Quebec Government. Granted in March, the mandate consisted in consulting with the representatives of the City’s staff to find some common values.”
In an edition from November 3, Le Devoir brought to light a new controversy: it seems that another expert in ethics, Mr. Bégin from Université Laval, had been the first one to be granted a similar mandate.
“Mr. Bégin suggests that Labeaume administration refused to work based on his report because of the controversial fragments regarding the stormy relations between the mayor and the City Hall’s employees.”
“Mr. Bégin, who hasn’t received any news from the City Hall ever since he submitted the report, thinks that the file became a political matter. Unlike Mr. Villemure, who was reported to the general management during his tenure, Mr. Bégin had to report to the human resources department. Ever since, he has been wondering what might have been the ‘orders’ given to Mr. Villemure.”
This is exactly why we are reserved regarding the use of an ethical approach to fight corruption. Provincial law or not, the problem is the same. Whose values? The boss’, the mayor’s, the lawyers’, the City Council’s, theUnion’s, or the staff’s?
There will also be another question, also wrongly considered of an ethical nature, related to the absence of calls for tender for the Institute of applied ethics. While we are all wrapped up in ourselves, consultants will find justification to their approaches and the fees they request.
Ethical measures against waste, collusion, and corruption
So, I emphasize the idea: What if we replaced the traffic regulation by an ethical code… just for fun!
To my knowledge, the new law on Ethics was aimed at civilizing the conflict of interest, the embezzlement, and the corruption. In fact, the expression «ethical code» is wrong. Ethics can’t be codified; in fact, we’re referring to a behavioural code in conformity with the ethical rules. But, nobody puts it that way!
Very well, I’ll make it even simpler. In ethics, there are such things as respect, decency, politeness, and courtesy. Who likes to be punished? Even the worst dunce expects more than just being abused verbally!
Work environment
It holds an important place in Sound Management. The governance doesn’t care much about it, but we classified it in our matrix in Organise and Fairness or in Direct and Fairness. It’s part of the Sound Management rules. But, codifying courtesy and politeness in a sort of guide of embezzlement and corruption prevention, well, I find this is too much!
Just an obligation to a Sound Management
Instead of talking about governance and Sound Management, they would rather talk about ethics to have a good image in front of the governance. The problem is that ethics is by definition a value assessment made through our own perception.
Life is good and everything is just fine…
