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Federal departments are getting their marching orders to ensure public servants know their legal rights and responsibilities when getting involved in political activities in the election this year.

The Public Service Commission, the watchdog of Canada’s non-partisan public service, has sent letters to the human resource branches of all departments to remind employees of the rules and code of conduct should they decide to seek nominations, run as candidates or work on political campaigns.

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The commission had 155 requests from public servants in 2013-14 for permission to seek nominations or run for office — the highest number ever received in a year. Most were seeking approval to run in municipal elections.

So far this year, the commission has fielded another 125 requests from public servants, including 69 who want to run in municipal elections, followed by 39 seeking federal office and 17 running for provincial seats.