Ethics, Trust & Projects: Lessons From a Municipality Sponsor

Following 20 years at a large Canadian telecommunications firm, Bruce established the project management consulting firm Solutions Management Inc (SMI). Since 1999, he has provided contract project/program management services, been a source for project management support personnel and created/delivered courses to over 7,000 participants in Canada, the United States and England.

  Ethics   Procurement Management  

Let me begin with full honesty: When you sign up to be an elected official, you also volunteer to be a lightning rod. Every municipal infrastructure project—from road resurfacing to transit upgrades to park renewals—becomes a target not just for praise, but for suspicion and second-guessing. Acting as a project sponsor in a municipal environment means carrying not only technical and managerial risk, but reputational risk.

Ethics is not optional in that role; it is central.

The Foundation: PMI’s Code of Ethics in the Sponsor’s Seat
Project managers are well acquainted with the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, with its four core values of responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty.

While that code is usually applied to the project manager or delivery team, it also guides those of us who serve as project sponsors. The sponsor’s integrity sets the tone. If elected officials push for shortcuts, private deals, or quiet exceptions, we undermine not only the project, but the credibility of township staff who are working diligently to follow proper process.

The code outlines both aspirational and mandatory standards. The aspirational standards describe what we should strive for, while the mandatory standards define what we must not violate. As a sponsor, I often lean on that dual nature. I encourage our township’s …

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