EACRC 2019-2021: Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference: Initial Term of EACRC, 2019-2021

The below Terms of Reference guided the activities of the first EACRC. To view the Terms of Reference of the current committee, visit the EACRC website.

Mandate

The Committee’s overarching mandate will be to advise Treasury Board by providing recommendations on how to improve regulatory competitiveness in Canada while protecting health, security, safety, and the environment; and supporting the modernization of Canada’s regulatory system into one that further enables investment and catalyzes innovation. The advice is to be based on consensus and reflect diverse industry (including small and medium-sized enterprises) and consumer voices.

Principles

The Committee’s overarching mandate will be to advise Treasury Board by providing recommendations on how to improve regulatory competitiveness in Canada while protecting health, security, safety, and the environment; and supporting the modernization of Canada’s regulatory system into one that further enables investment and catalyzes innovation. The advice is to be based on consensus and reflect diverse industry (including small and medium-sized enterprises) and consumer voices.

Activities

The Committee will:

provide recommendations for areas of focus for next phases of the targeted regulatory review process
consider and comment on future rounds of sectoral roadmaps prepared as part of the targeted regulatory review process and advise on their implementation in the context of the departmental-led implementation plans
make recommendations to support the work of the Centre for Regulatory Innovation on priority sectors and approaches where new regulatory frameworks are necessary to deal with emerging technologies or other innovations
consider studies on how to integrate competitiveness analysis into departments’ regulatory development process
provide advice to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) on the 2020 review of the Red Tape Reduction Act
advise on opportunities for more effective consultations and engagement mechanisms, to ensure meaningful dialogue with industry and Canadians on a range of regulatory modernization issues

The President of the Treasury Board may additionally identify and task the Committee with studying particular issues of interest from time to time.

Composition and Membership

The Committee will be composed of eight members, including the Chair. It will have business representation and will also benefit from representation of consumer interests. The Chair will be selected by the President of the Treasury Board from among the members.

Committee members will participate on a pro bono basis without remuneration. Eligible travel and accommodation expenses for members will be reimbursed in accordance with the Government of Canada Travel Directive when in-person meetings are required. Members will be asked to serve on the Committee for a two-year term with possibility of renewal.

Roles and Responsibilities

Members are expected to participate in Committee meetings and meaningfully contribute to the Committee’s work. Alternates are not permitted.

Advisory Committee operations and support

The Committee will initiate a meeting between January 2019 and April 2019, and quarterly thereafter, with at least two face-to-face gatherings in Ottawa annually in 2019 and 2020. All secretariat and analytical support will be provided by TBS.

Confidentiality and Privacy

Members of the Committee may discuss or review confidential or sensitive issues and documents. Members should note that the confidentiality and privacy policies of the Government of Canada apply. As a consequence, members may be required to sign a security declaration.

Members are not permitted to divulge any information to a third party without the prior consent of the Government of Canada. Any inquiries from third parties regarding the group’s activities should be referred to the Committee secretariat, hosted and staffed by TBS.

Members should note that personal information is protected from disclosure under the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act. Personal information is defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act as information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form. However, subsection 19(2) of the Access to Information Act permits the disclosure of personal information if there is consent, the information is publicly available, or the disclosure is in accordance with subection 8(2) of the Privacy Act.

Members recognize that their correspondence with officials of TBS is subject to the Access to Information Act, the Security of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Policy on Government Security.

Members shall not make use of the information or documentation disclosed or provided to members in their capacity as a Committee member, except to the extent that it is demonstrably in the public domain, for any purpose other than their mandate as a member of the Committee.

The obligations set out in this section shall survive the expiration or termination of the Member’s position on the Committee.

Conflict of Interest

Members acknowledge the importance of offering advice and recommendations that are independent, expert, and made in good faith.

Members shall disclose to TBS any advice which, if adopted and implemented by the Government of Canada, could result in direct or immediate financial gain to the Member, either professionally or personally, or to any of the Member’s family members or to any organization with which the Member is affiliated.

In the event that the Member also sits on another advisory committee or board of directors, the Member agrees not to share any information, documentation, deliberations, records or advice obtained, developed or given by or to the Committee members with the members of the other group, unless and until the Member is authorized to do so, in writing, by TBS or an official designated by TBS.

Members shall immediately report to TBS any circumstances in which the Member perceives a real, potential or apparent conflict or bias resulting from the Member’s roles on the Committee and any outside interests or activities, including organizational affiliations, other advisory committees or boards of directors. Should TBS or an official designated by TBS conclude that a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest exists involving the Member’s activities on the Committee and the outside interests or activities, he or she may require the Member to recuse themselves from participating in any related discussions or in the development of a recommendation, or terminate the Member’s membership in the Committee at TBS’s sole discretion.

In the event that the Member is already subject to the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, the Conflict of Interest Act, the code of conduct for any other federal organization, or any other law, policy or regulation, the Member acknowledges that he or she remains bound by these provisions and shall comply with their requirements in performing his or her duties under the terms of this Agreement.

Changes to the Terms of Reference

The President of Treasury Board may amend these Terms of Reference at any time. Members will be notified of any changes.

Accepting to serve

By accepting to serve on the Committee, members agree to be bound by the conditions of the Terms of Reference.

End of Service

A member’s service may be terminated at any time by either party on 10 days’ written notice.