The CSGA Code of Ethics has been developed to help members achieve a level of personal conduct consistent with the position and profession of Alpine Ski Guide.
The following Code of Ethics is organized around four ethical principles:
- Respect for Participants – this principle challenges members to act in a manner respectful of the dignity of all participants in the sport.
- Responsible Guiding – This principle carries basic ethical expectations that the activities of members will benefit all participants and will do no harm.
- Integrity in Relationships this principle means that members are expected to be honest, sincere, and honourable in their relationships with others.
- Honouring Sport – this principle challenges members to recognize, act on and promote the value of sport for individuals and other partners in the sport.
Each main principle is followed by an explanation of a key word that is supportive of the main principle.
The Board of Directors shall take appropriate disciplinary action should any breach of the Articles of the Code occur.
CODE OF ETHICS
Respect for Participants
1. Respect
- Treat all participants in sport with respect at all times.
- Provide feedback to participants in a caring manner that is sensitive to their needs.
- Refrain from engaging publicly in demeaning descriptions of others in sport (e.g. statements, conversations, jokes, presentations, and media reports).
2. Rights
- Respect people as autonomous individuals and refrain from intervening inappropriately in personal affairs that are outside the generally accepted jurisdiction of a ski guide.
3. Equity
- Treat all participants equitable within the context of the sport regardless of gender, race, place of origin, athletic potential, colour, religion, political beliefs, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, or any other conditions.
4. Empowerment
- Encourage and facilitate participants’ abilities to be responsible for their own behaviour, performance and decisions.
5. Confidentiality
- Exercise discretion in recording and communicating information so that information is not interpreted or used to the detriment of others.
Responsible Teaching
6. Professional Training
- Be responsible for achieving and maintaining a high personal level of professional competence through appropriate training.
- Keep yourselves up to date with relevant information through personal learning discussions,
- Take workshops, courses, conferences, etc. to ensure your services will benefit others.
7. Self Knowledge
- Evaluate how your own experience, attitudes, beliefs, values, and stresses influence your actions as ski guides and integrate this awareness into all efforts to benefit others.
8. Guiding Limits and Safety
- Take the limits of your knowledge and capacity into account in your teaching practice. In particular, members must not assume responsibilities for which they are insufficiently prepared.
- Refrain from working in unsafe or inappropriate situations that significantly compromise the quality of your services and the health and safety of participants.
9. Complete Effort
- Ensure that every reasonable effort has been applied to help the participants reach their potential.
10. Sexual Relationships
- Be acutely aware of your power position in teaching relationships, and therefore avoid sexual intimacy with participants. The principle of zero tolerance must be exercised where minors are involved.
- Abstain from and refuse to tolerate in others all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment. Sexual harassment includes either or both of the following:
- a) The use of your power position or authority in an attempt to coerce another person to engage in or tolerate sexual activity. Such uses include explicit or implicit threats of reprisals for non-compliance or promises or reward for compliance.
- b) Engaging in deliberate or repeated unsolicited sexually oriented comments, anecdotes, gestures, or touching that:
- i. are offensive and unwelcome;
- ii.create an offensive, hostile, or intimidating environment; or,
- iii can be expected to be harmful to the recipients
11. Extended Responsibility
- Recognize and address harmful personal practices of others in the sport, e.g., drug and alcohol use, addiction, physical and mental abuse, and misuse of power.
Integrity in Relationships
12. Honesty
- Accurately represent your qualifications, experience, competence and affiliations in spoken and written communication, being careful not to use descriptions or information that could be misinterpreted.
13. Conflict of Interest
14. Equipment
15. Financial
- Declare conflicts of interest when they arise and seek to manage them in a manner that respects the best interests of all those involved.
- Refrain from sponsoring or promoting any equipment that has not been personally tested and proved to be of high quality. Supporting commercial enterprises for monetary gain rather than from a sense of conviction misrepresents the equipment and jeopardizes the integrity of the organization as a whole.
- Members must meet professional financial obligations promptly and conduct all their business
dealings in a manner befitting the standards of the organization.
Honouring Sport
- 16. Positive Role Model
- 17. Responsibility to Industry Partners
- 18. Respect for Other Members
- 19. Resort Respect
- Maintain the highest standard of personal conduct and project a favourable image of skiing and of ski guiding to participants and the public in general.
- Promote cooperation with resorts, other operators and operations, ski schools, the skiing public and other groups that participate in and promote skiing.
- Respect the good efforts of other members in the field. Refrain from vilifying the actions of other colleagues in public or private.
- In a resort, privileges are often accorded and under no circumstances should these be taken as a right nor be abused so as to cause embarrassment to any guide, director or operator.
RECOMMENDED PROCESS AND PROCEDURE
In cases where a violation of the CSGA Code of Ethics is suspected, the following process and procedure is recommended.
1. Students or responsible associates may contact the CSGA directly to seek advice if they are unsure of what to do.
2. Document, in writing, the facts. No action should be considered on the basis of hearsay, innuendo or undocumented information.
3. Submit complaints to the CSGA in writing to:
- CSGA Disciplinary Committee
- Canadian Ski Guides Association
4. The Disciplinary Sub-Committee of the CSGA Board of Directors shall consider cases of alleged breach of the CSGA Code of Ethics. This committee shall be composed of the past President of the CSGA Board, one other CSGA Board member chosen by the CSGA President (not including the CSGA President) and CSGA member at large, chosen by the CSGA President.
5. The Disciplinary Committee shall have 30 days from the time of receipt of the written complaint to review the case. The review process may include written reports, telephone discussion or personal interviews, etc. to confirm the facts. The committee reserves the right to return complaints to the sender for lack of documented fact prior to the starting of a formal review.
6. The decision of the Disciplinary Committee shall be communicated in writing to the guide in question and to the party having lodged the complaint immediately following the review.
7. Penalties may range from a written recommendation to the member suggesting behavioural change to the cancellation of CSGA membership in the most extreme cases. Penalties will depend on the nature and degree of the infraction. This does not exclude in any way compliance with relevant legal requirements.
8. Appeal of the Disciplinary Committee decision may be made to the President of the CSGA The appeal must be received within 3 days of notification of the decision of the Disciplinary Committee. The CSGA Board of Directors shall review the appeal. The decision of the CSGA Board of Directors shall be final.