Module 3 Individual Assignment

MGMT 2006EL 12 2023W

Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility

Dr. Zeeva Millman

January 22, 2023

Siqi Kitty Yan #0423426

 In October 2017, the Federal Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, received much attention
concerning his handling of his finances, and became a prime example of an ethical dilemma. In
the most recent investigation by Mario Dion, we find that Morneau has broken federal ethics on
3 separate occasions involving WE Charity “due to his ‘friendship’ with one of the organization's
co-founders” (Nardi, 2021). Based on Dion’s findings, Morneau has provided WE Charity with a
$900 million grant program as well as having his staff disproportionately assisting the We
Charity - thus furthering the interests of WE Charity improperly. (Nardi, 2021) In addition,
Morneau's handling of personal finances has been unethical since coming into office, as he has
used knowledge he gained as a minister to further his own self-interests. For example, he failed
to disclose an asset that was owned through a private corporation- thus benefitting his personal
financial benefits. To include, after becoming minister, Morneau has sold shares from his firm
Morneau Shepell. Upon further investigations, his “sale of shares in Morneau Shepell - a
transaction that took place ahead of a tax change announcement” (Blatchford, 2017) saved him
half a million dollars. His actions have then prompted many other wealthy stockholders to also
sell off their stocks before the new tax change. Both these incidents are unethical and it is “the
responsibility of government to ensure that no minister ever uses inside knowledge to benefit
from transactions on the stock market” (Blatchford, 2017). His actions also do not reflect the
universal rules ethics which he should be upholding as “there should be rules and morals in
society that should be fair to everyone” (Sexty, 2020, p.85). Morneau abused his power for self-
interests, thus setting low ethical standards for stakeholders. “A test of ethical behavior is
whether the manager can defend the decision if it becomes known through the media” (Sexty,
2020, p.80) and based on Morneau’s attempt, my suggestion is for him to step down from the
position as finance minister. He had tried to appeal to the public - making himself seem more
relatable - but it was tone deaf. Morneau is blinded by his own privilege when he tries to appeal
to the public by saying that “Finance Minister is practically volunteer work compared to the
private sector” and “I obviously left a very lucrative career” (PressProgress, 2017) - thus
angering the public more. For future public officials, I suggest being as transparent as you can to
the public and uphold a certain moral and ethics that are not for self-interests, but for the
stakeholders. It is important to understand that “in order to maintain fair competition, fair
treatment of stakeholders, and a set of laws governing business transactions, there has to be a
central authority that has the power to enforce basic rules of conduct” (Sexty, 2020, p.80).
References

Blatchford, A. (2017, November 29). Trudeau defends Morneau as Tories call for Finance
minister to resign over ethics-related controversies. thestar.com. Retrieved January 29,
2023, from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/11/29/trudeau-defends-morneau-
as-tories-call-for-finance-minister-to-resign-over-ethics-related-controversies.html

Nardi, C. (2021, May 13). Bill Morneau broke ethics law three times during we charity
affair ... nationalpost.com. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/morneau-broke-ethics-law-three-times-during-we-
charity-affair-ethics-commissioner-rules

Pressprogress. (2017, November 14). Canada's finance minister, Facing Ethics

Investigation, wants you to know he just feels 'misunderstood'. PressProgress.ca. Retrieved
January 29, 2023, from https://pressprogress.ca/canadas-finance-minister-facing-ethics-
investigation-wants-you-to-know-he-just-feels-misunderstood/

Sexty, R. (2020). Canadian Business & Society: Ethics, responsibilities, and Sustainability.
McGraw-Hill Education.