The Federal Accountability Act ("FedAA": ) is a statute introduced as Bill C-2 in the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament on April 11, 2006, by the President of the Treasury Board, John Baird. The aim was to reduce the opportunity to exert influence with money by banning corporate, union, and large personal political donations; five-year lobbying ban on former ministers, their aides, and senior public servants; providing protection for whistleblowers; and enhancing the power of the Auditor General to follow the money spent by the government. The bill aimed to increase the transparency of government spending, and to establish clearer links between approved expenditures and their outcomes. The bill was passed by the House of Commons on June 22, 2006, by the Senate on November 9, 2006, and was granted royal assent on December 12, 2006.

Provisions

The following are some of the major changes instituted by the Federal Accountability Act: A number of new independent oversight offices were created, reporting directly to Parliament on the administration of the government.

History

The Federal Accountability Act was the first bill to be tabled by the newly elected Conservative Government. It took about nine months to pass and was significantly amended in the Senate. The development of the Act was informed by the Conservative Party election platform for the January 2006 election and by Phase 2 of the Gomery Report (Recommendations). When delivering his sponsor's speech in Parliament, John Baird described it as the "toughest anti-corruption law ever passed in Canada".

Amended legislation

The FedAA is an omnibus legislation - one that amends a number of other statutes. It amended the following: