Link to CTV News television article
Category: News
Groups launch national petition and letter-writing drive to Stop the Senate Cover-up
Calls for independent prosecutor to be appointed, and guarantees from RCMP Commissioner
Senate motion to suspend without pay violates Parliament of Canada Act – new rules and enforcement system needed because House and Senate are kangaroo courts
Monday, October 28, 2013
OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch launched a letter-writing drive (jointly with Leadnow.ca), and a national Change.org petition, calling on Prime Minister Harper and RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson to take key steps to ensure the truth comes out about the Senate scandals, and all wrongdoers are held accountable.
As well, Democracy Watch called for a completely new Senate penalty system – the current suspension without pay proposal violates sections 55 to 59 of the Parliament of Canada Act which make paying MPs and senators mandatory (s. 55) and only allow pay to be cut after an MP misses the House or Senate more than 21 days in a session (sections 57 and 59). As well, having the House or Senate hand out penalties is a dangerously unfair process that is wide open to abuse because, like all legislatures, the House and Senate are kangaroo courts undermined by partisan and other political and personal conflicts of interest. No one concerned about having a rule of law (ie. democracy) in Canada should endorse the current House or Senate discipline processes.
To have a democratic rule of law in this area, the House and Senate rules, and the rules in every legislature across Canada, should be changed to define exactly what suspensions (of various time periods) are mandatory for alleged and confirmed violations of criminal, ethics, spending and other integrity laws, codes and rules. The suspensions should range from 6 months with pay up to losing one’s seat without pay or pension. These changes will make standards of conduct and penalties clear to all, and remove the possibility of any legislature arbitrarily suspending, penalizing or kicking out some members but not others even if their violations are similar.
In addition, a fair compromise concerning pay for suspended senators and other politicians would be to establish a rule that if a politician is found guilty of the alleged violation, they would be required to return any pay received after the allegation was first made.
Concerning the Senate scandal overall, the various situations involving three Conservative senators (Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau),former PM Chief of Staff Nigel Wright, and other Conservative senators and staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, are all currently being investigated by the RCMP and the Commissioner of Canada Elections, overseen by who knows which Crown prosecutor or prosecutors who may serve under Prime Minister Harper and Minister of Justice and Attorney General Peter MacKay.
The RCMP’s independence is questionable given the RCMP Commissioner’s widely criticized new policy revealed in April 2013 that aligns his office with the office of the Minister of Public Safety in all communications about the RCMP’s actions. Many commentators have raised concerns about how this new policy negatively affects the ability of the RCMP to make independent law enforcement decisions, especially about the actions of government officials.
In similar situations, many provincial governments including in B.C. and Ontario have appointed independent prosecutors to ensure that investigations are conducted properly and thoroughly, and to ensure that decisions to prosecute are not undermined by career ambitions or other dangerous conflicts of interest. However, even in these situations, the fact that the Premier or provincial Attorney General selected the special prosecutor led to questions about the independence of the prosecutor.
As a result of these serious questions about lack of independence and conflicts of interest that must be resolved in order to have a just and effective resolution of the situations involving the senators, Democracy Watch is calling on Prime Minister Harper to do the following:
- appoint an independent prosecutor after consulting with and seeking the approval of all federal political party leaders to ensure a fully independent, fully non-partisan, qualified prosecutor is chosen;
- empower the prosecutor to oversee and direct the investigations of all the Senate scandals that the RCMP and the Commissioner of Canada Elections are currently investigating;
- require the prosecutor to give public updates on the status of all the investigations every month (of course, without disclosing any details that would undermine the investigations), and;
- require the prosecutor to explain publicly if s/he decides not to prosecute someone who is facing allegations (as independent prosecutors have in B.C. in similar politically charged situations).
As well, Democracy Watch, together with Leadnow, is calling on RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson to take similar steps to ensure the integrity of the RCMP’s investigations.
Democracy Watch will continue pushing for these key independence guarantees to ensure independent, complete and transparent investigations and prosecutions of everyone wrongdoer in the Senate scandal.
-30-
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Duff Conacher, Board member of Democracy Watch
Tel: 613-241-5179 or Cell: 416-546-3443
[email protected]
More and more groups joining Democracy Watch’s long-term call for comprehensive democratic reforms — Maclean’s Magazine
Good ideas are barely worth cheering for in Ottawa, some days. Allan Cutler, a former Conservative candidate who was famous for whistleblowing during the Sponsorship Scandal, has lost faith in his former tribe’s commitment to government accountability. Cutler is the president of Canadians for Accountability—C4A, for short—where he spends his time giving tips to whistleblowers who intend to speak truth to power. This morning, the Ottawa Citizen gives Cutler a renewed voice. He teams up with former whistleblower Ian Bron—a C4A director—to talk about all the loopholes the government could close, and mechanisms the government could strengthen, and people the government could empower in tomorrow’s Throne Speech. There are five ideas, each probably worth at least a debate.
Alberta’s government’s plan to disclose public servant salaries a baby step forward — Calgary Herald
As controversy swirls over severance payments made inside Premier Alison Redford’s office, the Tory government vows it will soon publish a “sunshine list” disclosing salaries and severance for all its senior officials.
Quebec’s new fixed election date law is as much of a scam as the federal law and laws in other provinces — Montreal Gazette
The countdown is underway. And unless Premier Pauline Marois aborts the mission at the last minute, she will launch a general-election campaign on Nov. 6.
Key changes to ethics rules needed and commissioner should probe situation
Winnipeg MP Pat Martin should return the money donated by organized labour to cushion the financial blow he suffered when he settled a $5-million defamation claim with an Edmonton company, a Canadian ethics expert says.
Key changes needed to federal ethics rules to strengthen watchdog and prevent conflicts of interest — Sun News
OTTAWA — The NDP’s union friends have come to the rescue of Manitoba MP Pat Martin as he faces expenses from a $5-million defamation lawsuit, but Canadians may never know how much money he raised from them.
Alberta’s cities, like cities and towns across Canada should be required to have more open meetings, with complaints allowed to an independent provincial watchdog and strong penalties for violations Calgary Herald
Mayor Naheed Nenshi defended his council’s commitment to transparency following recent concerns over the amount of time politicians spend debating public business behind closed doors.
Loopholes in ethics and lobbying laws allow federal Finance Minister’s top aide to leave and work and lobby for Scotiabank — Toronto Star
OTTAWA—Kevin McCarthy, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s chief of staff and one-time chief policy adviser on the banking sector, is leaving the federal government to go to a new job at Scotiabank, the Star has learned.
Loopholes allow politicians to lobby the day after they leve office
Letter to the Editor by Democracy Watch Board Member Duff Conacher published in the Globe and Mail
Dear Editor,
Your article makes the inaccurate claim that the federal Conservatives’ 2006 Accountability Act prevents “federal officials from lobbying the government for up to five years after their retirement . . .” (PM’s former Quebec adviser hired by lobbying firm – Sept. 4).
In fact, because of huge loopholes in the federal Lobbying Act and Conflict of Interest Act and codes, Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees, MPs and senators and their staff are all allowed to lobby the government the same day they retire or resign.
Under rules that have existed since 1986, Cabinet ministers for two years, and senior government officials for one year, have be careful whom they lobby for, and whom they lobby — but they are allowed to start lobbying the day they leave government.
The Accountability Act did nothing to close the loopholes, and Treasury Board minister Tony Clement has failed to take any steps to implement the proposals made in a May 2012 House of Commons Ethics Committee report to close some (but unfortunately not all) of the loopholes.
Until these loopholes are closed, everyone involved in federal politics will continue to be free to cash in and sell their inside information and connections to the highest bidder as soon as they finish their so-called public service.
Sincerely,
Duff Conacher
Board Member of Democracy Watch
Director of GoodOrg.ca Consulting
Internet: http://goodorg.ca
Twitter: @DuffConacher
Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign