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The guide also changes the rules on the personal and partisan use of social media.

Ministers’ staff, who are hired under the Public Service Employment Act, are exempt from the hiring rules for public servants. Their job is to provide political advice to ministers while bureaucrats offer non-partisan advice.

Karl Salgo, formerly of the Privy Council Office and now executive director of public governance at the Institute on Governance, said the guide doesn’t break new ground, but is the first attempt to pull together the rules — written and unwritten — in a single code that will be enforced as a condition of employment. Treasury Board, for example, has long had policies on communications and ministers’ offices.

“This is not a change in rules but rather a codification of established principles that has not previously been brought together as comprehensively nor as authoritatively,” he said.

Salgo said the code is now the most “authoritative” statement on the boundaries around the relationship between political aides and public servants, and puts the onus on staffers to know and live by those rules. He argued more structure should improve compliance.

For the public service, the new code is a concrete step towards the Liberals’ election promise to restore and rebuild respect for the public service.

“This is good for the public service because it clarifies the lines of accountability and draws that line in the sand,” said Salgo.