November 9, 2012

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch launched a national letter-writing and petition drive calling for federal, provincial and territorial politicians to pass laws to end secret, unlimited donations and loans to Canadian political parties and politicians to get big money out of Canadians politics, and for other changes to make the political finance system democratic.

“We don’t allow hockey players to give donations to referees, so why is this legal in politics?  Politicians are the referees who decide what is in the public interest, so it makes no sense at all to allow wealthy interests to buy influence with large donations and gifts to candidates and political parties, including secret donations,” said Tyler Sommers Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the nation-wide Money in Politics Coalition.

“The scandals involving a federal Cabinet minister’s questionable donations and campaign spending in the last election, executives and family members from the same company donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to an Alberta political party, and corruption in Quebec have highlighted Canada’s  weak and loophole-filled restrictions on money in politics,” said Sommers,  “So Democracy Watch is launching a national letter-writing and petition drive that makes it easy for people across Canada to send a clear message to key politicians calling for strong laws to end the influence of big money in politics by strictly limiting and disclosing all donations, and increasing enforcement powers and penalties.”

“While the corrupting, democracy-undermining influence of secret money and bribes can unfortunately never be stopped, governments across Canada continue to be negligent by leaving open loopholes that allow for secret, unlimited donations and loans that wealthy interests can use to buy influence with political candidates, politicians and governments,” said Sommers.

While the Federal Accountability Act made historic changes to Canada’s 33-year-old political fundraising rules, it left open huge loopholes which allow corporations and other organizations to provide unreported “volunteer labour” through giving employees paid time off to participate in nomination races, allow nomination and party leadership candidates to take secret donations and gifts, and allow riding associations and political parties to keep secret trust funds.  These same loopholes are open in all the provinces and territories.

A Liberal Senator recently said that federal politicians are under pressure “all the time” to take “brown paper bags with cash in it.”  Italian police have said that Ontario has a mafia corruption problem in the construction industry even worse than in Quebec.  And because donors don’t have to disclose their employer or affiliations with organizations, the scandals in Quebec, and also situations like this and this, show that it is easy for corporations and other organizations to funnel donations through their employees.

Other than federally and in Manitoba and Quebec, donation limits are much too high, and corporations and unions and other organizations are allowed to donate, and other than at the federal level and in Ontario donation disclosure rules are much too weak (and even those jurisdictions have loopholes in the rules, and donation limits that are still too high).

And across the country, election agencies either lack investigation and auditing powers, or are failing to do regular audits, and penalties are too weak, all of which encourages violations.

Democracy Watch and its nation-wide Money in Politics Coalition, made up of 50 citizen groups with a total membership of 3 million Canadians, will continue pushing until all laws across Canada prevent the undue influence of money in politics, and the key democratic principle of one person, one vote is upheld in our political finance system.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Tyler Sommers, Coordinator of Democracy Watch

Tel: 613-241-5179

Email: [email protected]

Internet: http://democracywatch.ca

For more details, go to Democracy Watch’s Money in Politics Campaign

The province’s sky-high political contribution limits are under attack following the controversy over thousands of dollars in donations flowing to the governing Progressive Conservative party from billionaire Daryl Katz, his colleagues and his family.

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To see a related Ottawa Citizen article, click here

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch and Canadians for Accountability announced that they have resigned from the Advisory Committee for the federal Integrity Commissioner (PSIC) because Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion kicked a member off the Committee for no good reason and has refused to reinstate him.

Commissioner Dion removed David Hutton, Executive Director of  Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), from the Committee last week in response to a critical letter by him published in the Ottawa Citizen on October 13^th.  In the letter, Hutton referred to a recent Federal Court ruling which stated that PSIC’s handling of a case had so many mistakes it was “a clear breach of the common law duty of procedural fairness”.  Hutton argued that this was not an isolated case and that FAIR had heard from more than 30 whistleblowers who expressed difficulties in dealing with PSIC.

“Democracy Watch is resigning from the advisory committee because the Integrity Commissioner’s decision is unfair and shows he is trying to use the committee to keep criticism of his office secret and behind closed doors,” said Tyler Sommers Coordinator of Democracy Watch.

“We cannot support an environment where openness, transparency and good governance are not respected,” said Allan Cutler of Canadians for Accountability.  “Further, we will not be muzzled. We had originally believed that membership on the Advisory Committee was an obligation, not something that was granted by the Commissioner and which could be removed by him at a whim.”

Democracy Watch, FAIR, and Canadians for Accountability originally raised questions (archive website) about the integrity commissioner’s appointment when the appointment of Mario Dion was rammed through committee without consultation with key groups interested in ensuring protection for whistleblowers.  Dr. Edward Keyserlingk, the former Public Sector Integrity Officer (who was charged with protecting whistleblowers before PSIC was created, but with very limited powers) also called the appointment of a senior bureaucrat ‘disastrous’ in a multi-page letter to committee chair Pat Martin.

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Contact Information:

Tyler Sommers, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chair of the Open Government Coalition: (613) 241-5179

 Allan Cutler, President, Canadians for Accountability: (613) 863-4671

Ian Bron, Managing Director, Canadians for Accountability: (613) 304-8049

For more details, go to Democracy Watch’s Open Government Campaign

For more information on the Federal Court ruling click here

Set out below is a letter-to-the-editor by Democracy Watch Board Member Duff Conacher which was published in the Hill Times on October 22, 2012

As many commentators do, your editorial about the Parliamentary budget officer (PBO) proposes that the solution to the problems Kevin Page has been having doing his job is to make him “clearly independent,” (“PBO fights for House, make it independent,” The Hill Times, Oct. 15, p. 8).

While it is important to make the PBO a fully independent officer of Parliament, appointed with the approval of all political parties, with a fixed term of office and control over his budget and staff, recent stonewalling by the Conservatives have made it very clear that isn’t enough to make the PBO effective.

An independent PBO could still face a government like the current Conservative government that claims the PBO is making illegal requests for information, claims the information will be available so there is no need to provide it now, and delays in providing information or never disclosing it making it impossible for the PBO to determine the actual cost of any government initiative.

Delay is a very effective way to thwart accountability, especially when an election is approaching as a government tries to hide scandalous information to keep voters in the dark about its actual governing record.

The auditor general and information commissioner have been dealing with secrecy and delays like this for decades, delays that have allowed dozens of Cabinet ministers and government officials to escape accountability dozens of times.

So, to have an effective PBO, the PBO must be given the power to order the release of information (as the information commissioners have in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec).  The PBO must also be given the power to fine government officials who refuse to comply with disclosure orders, with both the PBO and the government having the right to a quick reference appeal to court to settle disagreements (an appeal that must be fast-tracked, again to avoid undue delays).

If the PBO is made fully independent, but these changes are not made, the PBO will be independent, but continue to be ineffective.

And these powers should also be given to the federal information commissioner (the Conservatives promised in the 2006 election they would give the information commissioner the power to order the release of records), and the auditor general, to make them fully effective watchdogs.

For more details, go to Democracy Watch’s Voters Rights Campaign

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