Ethical Business Practices

An essential part of being an accountable organization involves grounding all internal and external practices and behaviours in an ethical foundation.

Our performance to date includes:

VANOC’s chief legal officer facilitates the process by which all employees review the Ethics Policy and monitors compliance with this policy, and with our Reporting on Wrongdoing Policy (including a whistle-blowing procedure). Monitoring takes place, in part, through periodic surveying (in collaboration with the Finance Department) of the Senior Leadership Team to confirm contractual and financial compliance and the absence of wrongdoing, including statutory and regulatory requirements. On a quarterly basis, our Chief Legal Officer reviews and reports to the Audit Committee on VANOC’s compliance with legal requirements and VANOC policies.

VANOC’s Ethics Policy ensures our workforce engages in relationships that are ethical and transparent, and help assure the public of our integrity. Today, every employee hired at VANOC signs an acknowledgement stating they have reviewed, and will at all times comply with, VANOC’s Ethics Policy. To date, VANOC has achieved 100 per cent conformance with the Ethics Policy.

In June 2004, VANOC’s Board of Directors appointed an independent ethics commissioner to help govern the standards of behaviour in planning and organizing the 2010 Winter Games. The role of the Ethics Commissioner is to provide independent guidance and interpretation on matters relating to the VANOC Ethics Policy, and to provide his opinion and recommendation on matters referred to him by the Governance and Ethics Committee of the Board. The first report of the activities of the VANOC ethics commissioner (additional reports will be produced every six months) has been submitted to the Board of Directors and is available here.