The loopholes allow the PM, Cabinet ministers, their staff and top government officials to all secretly profit from their decisions

Loopholes also allow for not-blind trusts and ethics smokescreens that hide, but don’t stop, conflicts of interest

Opposition parties should pass private member bill to make changes if Carney Liberal Cabinet refuses to close loopholes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, October 1, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, testifying before the House Ethics Committee for its first review since 2012 of the federal government ethics law, Democracy Watch called on the Committee to recommend closing huge loopholes in the Conflict of Interest Act (COIA) that mean it really should be called the “Almost Impossible to be in a Conflict of Interest Act”. Click here to watch the Committee hearing from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm ET.

It’s unclear how rigorous the review will be in the end, but at least the Ethics Committee is holding open meetings to review the COIA, unlike when another House committee reviewed the MP Code in secret in 2022.

“Canada’s political ethics laws and codes for Cabinet ministers, their staff and top government officials are full of loopholes that allow them to secretly profit financially from their decisions, and are weaker than the rules for senators and federal government employees, and as weak as the rules for backbench MPs, which makes no sense at all,” said Duff Conacher, PhD (Law) and Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  “All federal parties need to work together to finally close all the loopholes in all federal political ethics laws and codes, and strengthen enforcement and penalties, so politicians and their staff and top government officials are no longer allowed to make unethical, self-interested decisions or secretly profit from their decisions.”

“The current ethics enforcement measure of a blind trust is completely ineffective because a trust isn’t blind at all the office holder knows what investments they put in it, choose their own trustee, are allowed to give the trustee instructions such as don’t sell anything, and the trustee is allowed to give them regular updates on his investments,” said Conacher.  “And the other enforcement measure of an ethics screen is an unethical smokescreen that allows an office holder to secretly participate in almost all decisions that affect their financial interests and to secretly profit from their decisions, and so the only effective way to deal with these financial conflicts is to require office holders to sell their investments.”

Requiring office holders to sell their investments, and prohibiting the use of a blind trust, were recommended by Justice Parker in 1987 in his landmark report (pages 343-361 (esp. 360-361)) and also in the 1984 Starr-Sharp Task Force on Conflict of Interest report).

Click here to see the “dirty dozen” loopholes in the COIA are as follows, along with key changes needed to make enforcement independent, non-partisan, transparent, timely, effective and accountable.

As the “dirty dozen” list details, some of the loopholes have been created through negligently bad enforcement by the federal Ethics Commissioner since 2006, including by current Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, who buried eight investigations and created three new loopholes in his first six months as Commissioner.

Similar loopholes exist in the MP Code and the Senate Code, but almost all the loopholes do not exist in the ethics code and ethics directive for federal government employees.

Democracy Watch called on opposition parties to enact a private member bill closing the unethical loopholes and strengthening ethics enforcement and penalties if the Carney Liberal Cabinet refuses to introduce a government bill to make the changes.

Prime Minister Mark Carney also needs to re-enact publicly the PM Code for ministers and their staff covering accountability, ethics, fundraising, relationships with lobbyists etc.  The PM Code sets out very important ethics rules that the Ethics Commissioner has stated repeatedly are enforceable requirements that define in detail key measures in the COIA.  Click here to see details about the PM Code.

“If Prime Minister Carney doesn’t re-enact the code for ministers in his own name, or weakens or cancels it, it will gut Canada’s already weak, loophole-filled government ethics law, and add to his negligently weak record and attitude so far concerning ethics,” said Conacher.

Click here to see how PM Carney is exploiting loopholes in the COIA to keep millions of dollars invested in more than 655 businesses, especially the Brookfield conglomerate, while hiding that he is participating in almost all decisions that affect Brookfield and other businesses.

Many other changes are needed to other federal laws to ensure democratic good government, including closing huge secret, unethical lobbying loopholes, decreasing the donation limit in the Canada Elections Act to $75 (as the current annual individual donation limit of $3,500 (which increases by $50 each year) is essentially legalized bribery for those who can afford to make a top donation), closing huge excessive secrecy loopholes in the federal Access to Information Act, and strengthening the whistleblower protection law.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign

Prosecution of PM for alleged obstruction of justice and breach of trust is unprecedented, but Crown claims it knows it will fail, but explanation is false

Behind-closed-door decision to stop prosecution continues cover-up the Trudeau Cabinet started, and the RCMP continued with its weak investigation, decision not to prosecute, and burying of investigation records and key evidence

RCMP never should have investigated, and independent special prosecutor should have been appointed to review the evidence – independent federal anti-corruption police and prosecution force needed now, like Quebec has had for almost 15 years

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, September 29, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released and criticized the letter it received recently from John Corelli, Director of the Complex Prosecutions Bureau at Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General, exercising the Crown counsel’s power to stop DWatch’s application filed last February in the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa for approval from the court to proceed with a private prosecution of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for alleged obstruction of justice and breach of trust by pressuring, and directing others to pressure, then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in 2018 (now operating under the name “AtkinsRéalis”).

DWatch also released the letter it sent to Mr. Corelli today requesting that he reverse his decision and proceed with the next steps in the prosecution process because his decision is based on legal reasons that are clearly incorrect.

DWatch’s applications included a detailed legal opinion by a retired superior court justice (who did the opinion on the condition of remaining anonymous) setting out the clear evidence and legal arguments for prosecuting the PM for the allegation of obstruction of justice, and possibly also for breach of trust.

Mr. Corelli requested in June that the Regional Sr. Justice have a judge oversee the next step in the private prosecution application process, called a “pre-enquête” hearing, at which DWatch would present the evidence it pried out of the RCMP, and key witnesses would be questioned such as Wilson-Raybould, her former Chief of Staff Jessica Prince, and her friend and confidante former Liberal Cabinet minister Jane Philpott, and a judge would decide if there was enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution.  Democracy Watch supported that request.  The Regional Sr. Justice had not yet made that decision whether a judge or a Justice of the Peace would preside at the pre-enquête hearing.

Mr. Corelli’s letter staying (i.e. stopping) the prosecution does not set out any valid reasons explaining why the available evidence of Mr. Trudeau’s actions does not cross the lines established by the obstruction of justice (ss. 139(2)) and breach of trust (s. 122) provisions in Canada’s Criminal Code.

In the letter, Mr. Corelli only claims that “there is no reasonable prospect the Crown could prove that Mr. Trudeau acted with the requisite criminal intent for either alleged offence.”  As Democracy Watch set out in its “will say” document that was included in its court application, this is the same incorrect legal standard that the RCMP used to decide not to prosecute Trudeau for obstruction (the RCMP did not even consider whether Trudeau had committed a breach of trust).

In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear in its ruling in R. v. Beaudry, 2007 SCC 5 (CanLII) that, in order to prove obstruction of justice, the Crown is only required to prove that an alleged offender acted “willfully” to frustrate the course of justice.  Proof of “criminal” (i.e. deceitful or corrupt) intent is not required.

In addition, the case against Trudeau is unprecedented – so there is no way that the Crown could know there is no chance of proving that Trudeau committed a crime.

Mr. Corelli’s letter also says that he has concluded that it is not “in the public interest to hear any evidence that may be adduced by the informant” at the hearing, and that “new evidence” is unlikely to become available because the RCMP did its own review.  This continues the cover-up begun by the Trudeau Cabinet (which refused to disclose internal Cabinet communication records), and continued by the RCMP with its weak, incomplete and delayed investigation that was buried for years, that accepted the Cabinet keeping key records secret, that only interviewed four of 15 key witnesses, that hid key testimony from Wilson-Raybould, Prince, and Philpott, and that trusted without question the biased, self-interested public statements of Trudeau and everyone else who pressured the AG.

Democracy Watch’s application also included: a “will say” document that summarizes the reasons for the application; a summary of how the RCMP failed to investigate and uphold the law properly, and the extensive evidence of obstruction of justice that the RCMP tried to bury but finally disclosed after a two-year delay.  The answers by Wilson-Raybould, Prince and Philpott to key questions were withheld by the RCMP in the documents it finally disclosed.  The pre-enquête hearing would have revealed them.

It is clear that the RCMP never should have been investigating Trudeau given that the RCMP Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Division Heads are all appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the PM, which puts the RCMP in a massive conflict of interest and makes them a lapdog of the PM.  A provincial or municipal police force should have handled the investigation.  For example, in response to the Greenbel scandal involving Ontario Doug Ford’s PC Party government, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) transferred the case to the RCMP because of a perceived conflict of interest given Premier Ford chose the OPP Commissioner.

Wayne Crookes, founder of Integrity B.C., is a key supporter of the application.  Jen Danch of Swadron Associates law firm has been representing Democracy Watch.

“Crown prosecutors stopping this prosecution for a legally incorrect reason, just like the RCMP did in addition to suppressing key evidence, amount to a smelly cover-up that shows clearly that Canada does not have independent, effective anti-corruption law enforcement and, as a result, corruption in the highest public offices across the country is effectively legal,” said Duff Conacher, PhD (Law) and Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  “This means Canada does not have a rule of law, a rule that violations of the law will be prosecuted no matter who the violator is, which is considered worldwide to be a fundamental requirement for a country to actually be a democracy.”

“Canadians can only hope that whistleblowers at the RCMP and prosecutors’ office will one day come out and reveal what actually happened to cause this cover-up, other than the ongoing negligently weak attitude that Canadian law enforcement officers have concerning corruption in government and politics,” said Conacher.  “Hopefully Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jessica Prince and Jane Philpott will also, sooner than later, disclose everything they know about Trudeau’s efforts to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin for its clear violations of anti-bribery laws, and speak out about the many flaws in the investigation and prosecution decisions.”

To prevent this exact sort of secretive, behind-closed-door cover-up, DWatch sent a letter to Ontario’s Attorney General Doug Downey in May calling on him to establish a committee made up of people who have no ties to any political party to choose a lawyer who has no ties to any party to be an Independent Special Prosecutor who would review the evidence and make decisions concerning the prosecution.  In his May 22nd response letter, Randy Schwartz, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Law Division, refused to do that.

In British Columbia, a Special Prosecutor is usually appointed for such cases (not as independent as they need to be, but more independent than a Crown counsel), and they usually provide detailed reasons if they decide not to prosecute.  Since 2011, Quebec has had an independent anti-corruption police force and prosecutors.

 “The RCMP lacks independence from the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers who handpick the RCMP Commissioner and deputy commissioners and division heads through a secretive process, and they all serve at the pleasure of the Cabinet so they are vulnerable to political interference, which is likely part of the reason the RCMP rolled over and let Trudeau off, and the pressuring of the former Attorney General to stop a prosecution shows that prosecutors are also vulnerable to political interference,” said Conacher.  “To ensure integrity and impartiality in anti-corruption and foreign interference cases, key changes that many experts have called for are needed to make the RCMP more independent, effective and publicly accountable, or even better Parliament should establish a new fully independent anti-corruption police force including fully independent prosecutors like Quebec has had since 2011.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign and Stop Unfair Law Enforcement Campaign

Loopholes in law mean PM’s blind trust isn’t actually blind, and his ethics screen is a loophole-filled, unethical smokescreen that allows him to secretly participate in almost all decisions that affect his financial interests in 655+ companies

Carney has as many financial conflicts of interest as Trump – only effective way to resolve the conflicts is for Carney to sell his investments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, September 24, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, as the House Ethics Committee begins its review of the federal government ethics law for the first time since 2012, Democracy Watch called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to re-enact publicly the PM Code for ministers and their staff covering accountability, ethics, fundraising, relationships with lobbyists etc., and to work with all federal parties to close the huge loopholes in the law and strengthen enforcement and penalties.

The version of the Code on the PM’s website (en français) is from November 2015, with a Message to Ministers signed by former PM Justin Trudeau (see the link to it on the PM’s main site at the bottom of “The Ministry” dropdown menu as “Open Government” – en français on the PM’s main site at the bottom of the “Le ministère” dropdown menu as “Gouvernement ouvert”).

Does PM Carney’s failure since the election to re-enact the PM Code in his own name (and with the same strong wording it has now) mean that he plans to weaken or cancel the Code?

If PM Carney weakens or cancels the PM Code, it would eliminate very important ethics rules in the Code that the Ethics Commissioner has stated repeatedly are enforceable requirements that define in detail key measures in the federal government ethics law – the Conflict of Interest Act (COIA).

Most importantly, the PM Code has detailed rules that define the prohibition in the COIA on public office holders “improperly” furthering their own or others’ private interests in general and specific ways (ss. 4, 8 and 9 of the Act).  Under the PM Code, it is improper to do the following things, among other high ethical standards in the Code:

•  To be dishonest (Annex A (Part I));

•  To be in an apparent conflict of interest (Annex B);

•  To make decisions that are not in the public interest or not based on the merits (Annex A (Part I));

•  To participate in political activities in a way that may reasonably be seen to be incompatible with, or impair the ability to discharge, the office holder’s public duties (Annex A (Part II));

•  To fail to arrange their personal affairs in a way that exceeds the COIA’s conflict of interest prohibitions (Annex A (Part I)), and;

•  To act in a way that does not ensure that public confidence and trust in the integrity and impartiality of government are conserved and enhanced (Annex A (Part I) and Part II).

The PM Code also has rules that go beyond the COIA that apply to ministerial staff (Annex I) and prohibit them from acting in all the improper ways listed above and more.

Cancelling the PM Code, or weakening it in any way, would only add to Carney’s negligently weak record and attitude so far concerning government ethics, as he hid his financial investments from March until July despite a majority of voters wanting disclosure, and current loopholes in the COIA allow PM Carney to have investments in more than 550 companies, and to have a so-called “blind trust” that isn’t actually blind, and a so-called “ethics screen” that is a loophole-filled, unethical smokescreen that allows him to secretly participate in almost all decisions that affect his investments in the Brookfield conglomerate and more than 100 other connected companies.

“If Prime Minister Carney doesn’t re-enact the code for ministers in his own name, or weakens or cancels it, it will gut Canada’s already weak, loophole-filled government ethics law, and add to his negligently weak record and attitude so far concerning ethics,” said Duff Conacher, PhD (Law) and Co-founder of Democracy Watch.

The PM Code was first established by Liberal PM Jean Chrétien in 2002 as a supplement to another code covering ministers, and was re-enacted by Liberal PM Paul Martin in 2004 under the title “Responsible Government”.  Then, in 2007, after the COIA had been enacted, Conservative PM Stephen Harper re-enacted the Code in a different form and changed the title to “Accountable Government”.  PM Harper strengthened the Code in 2011 with the addition of a new, more detailed Annex A (covering political activities) and Annex B (covering fundraising and relations with lobbyists), which replaced former Annex G and Annex H.  In 2015, Liberal PM Trudeau changed the PM Code title to “Open and Accountable Government” and further strengthened it by adding new Annex I (setting out specific rules for ministerial staff) and Annex J (covering the use of social media).

In addition to re-enacting the PM Code in the same form it is in now, the Carney Liberals and all federal parties need to work together to close the huge loopholes in the COIA, and in the ethics code for MPs (some of which have been closed by Senators in the Senate Ethics Code, and almost all of which do not exist in the ethics code and ethics directive for federal government employees).

“Canada’s political ethics laws and codes for Cabinet ministers, their staff and top government officials are full of loopholes that allow them to profit financially from their decisions, and are weaker than the rules for senators and federal government employees, and as weak as the rules for backbench MPs, which makes no sense at all,” said Conacher. “All federal parties need to work together to finally close all the loopholes in the federal political ethics laws and codes that allow them and their staff to make unethical, self-interested decisions and actions, and to strengthen enforcement and penalties.”

And the only effective way to end the serious, unethical and damaging financial conflicts of interest caused by his investments is for PM Carney to sell his investments, including arranging to have Brookfield and other companies buy out his stock options (as recommended by Justice Parker in 1987 in his landmark report (pages 343-361 (esp. 360-361)) and also in the 1984 Starr-Sharp report).  Click here to see details.

“Prime Minister Carney has as many financial conflicts of interest as Trump, and his so-called blind trust isn’t blind at all, and his so-called ethics screen is an unethical smokescreen that allows him to secretly profit from his decisions, and so the only effective way to deal with these conflicts is for him to sell his investments in more than 655 businesses,” said Conacher.

Many other changes are needed to other federal laws to ensure democratic good government, including closing huge secret, unethical lobbying loopholes, decreasing the donation limit in the Canada Elections Act to $75 (as the current annual individual donation limit of $3,500 (which increases by $50 each year) is essentially legalized bribery for those who can afford to make a top donation), closing huge excessive secrecy loopholes in the federal Access to Information Act, strengthening the whistleblower protection law, and changing the way that the Ethics Commissioner and other democratic good government watchdogs are appointed (given MPs currently have a clear conflict of interest as they choose their own watchdogs) and banning re-appointments (as that gives a watchdog an incentive to please MPs in order to secure a re-appointment).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign

Bill 9 does little to improve broken, unethical, conflict-ridden and ineffective municipal political ethics systems across Ontario

Will the Committee, especially Ford PC Party MPPs, make the key changes needed?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, July 17, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, testifying online at the Ontario legislature’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy hearing in Ottawa on Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, Democracy Watch called on the MPPs on the Committee to amend the Bill in key ways to make the municipal politics ethics standards and enforcement system independent and effective. (Click here to see DWatch’s Submission to the Special Committee)

Currently, the system is full of conflicts of interest and is ineffective as municipal councillors are allowed to write their own ethics codes, chose their own ethics watchdogs (so they choose lapdogs or often fire anyone who tries to be a watchdog) and to decide whether or not to penalize any councillor found to have violated the code (which is a kangaroo court system).

Bill 9 proposes to empower the Cabinet to establish one ethics code for all municipalities, but does not require that to happen, and continues the system of city councils choosing, hiring, paying and firing their own integrity commissioner and deciding the penalty in almost all cases, with the provincial commissioner only empowered to intervene partially in cases involving the most serious violations.

“While Bill 9 takes a few steps in the right direction to improve broken, unethical, conflict-ridden and ineffective municipal political ethics systems across Ontario, the bill is far from what is needed to have an effective system across the province,” said Duff Conacher, PhD and Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  “There should be one strict, strong ethics law for all municipal councillors and staff across Ontario, and the provincial integrity commissioner should be empowered and required to investigate and rule publicly on all complaints, and to penalize all violators, with appeals to the courts allowed, similar to the system in place for enforcing the freedom of information and privacy law that applies to all municipalities.”

As well, provincial parties should work together to establish a lobbying disclosure and ethical lobbying law, and a best-practice whistleblower protection law, for all municipalities across the province, with all complaints also going to Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner.

Democracy Watch’s written submission to the Committee details the problems with the current system, and calls for amendments to Bill 9 to enact an effective system for preventing conflicts of interest and other wrongdoing by municipal councillors. An effective system is:

1. The provincial Cabinet establishes one ethics law for all municipalities across the province with strong, strict rules to require councillors and all members of local boards/entities to be honest, to disclose all their assets and liabilities in an online, searchable registry, prohibiting them from participating in any discussion, decision-making process or vote if they have even an appearance of a conflict of interest, and automatically suspending them from council if they are charged with a crime;

2. All complaints are investigated by the Ontario Integrity Commissioner (OIC);

3. Any member of the public has a right to file a complaint;

4. The OIC is required to investigate all alleged violations that it becomes aware of, and is required to issue a public ruling on every alleged violation;

5. The OIC is required to impose a penalty for every violation, on a sliding scale of penalties depending on the seriousness of the violation, including suspension from office (for example, when charged with a crime) and removal from office (for example, when convicted of a crime), and;

6. Anyone or any entity that meets the public interest standing test has a right to challenge any ruling by the OIC in court.

This would match Ontario’s system of one freedom of information and privacy protection law that applies to all municipalities in which all complaints go to the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner, and the Commissioner is required to issue a public ruling on each complaint and the rulings are binding (although, unfortunately, there are no penalties for violating that law).

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign and Stop Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign

The same changes are also needed to stop foreign interference

Will the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform recommend the many needed reforms, and will the parties enact them?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, July 17, 2025

TORONTO – Today, testifying online before B.C.’s Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform, Democracy Watch called on the MLAs on the Committee to recommend all the changes needed to ensure democratic politics across the province and to stop foreign interference, and for all B.C. parties to work together to enact the changes into law as soon as possible.

“No one in B.C. politics is effectively required to act honestly, ethically, openly, representatively or to prevent waste, and so the system is the scandal and it is not surprising that it produces scandalous political decisions and actions regularly, and discourages voter engagement and participation in political processes,” said Duff Conacher, PhD and Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “It is not surprising at all that B.C. voters are turned off politics given that false election promises, dishonest spin, excessive secrecy, secret and unethical lobbying, conflicts of interest and ministers and top government officials profiting from their own decisions, and waste of the public’s money are all legal, and the political donations and third-party spending systems amount to legalized bribery, and the vote counting system often gives majority power to parties that are supported by a minority of voters.”

“The only way to increase voter engagement and participation, and to stop the undemocratic, unethical, dishonest influence of foreign interference by governments and foreign agents on B.C. politics, is to make the key changes needed stop all undemocratic, unethical and dishonest influence, and to require democratic engagement with voters during and between elections,” said Conacher.

To have an actually democratic political and election system that encourages and increases voter participation and democratic engagement, and to stop foreign interference, the top 10 most important changes that need to be made and applied to everyone (politicians, appointees, political staff, public servants) in the provincial and municipal governments, and in every government and government-funded institution across the province, and to lobbyists and interest groups and voters, are as follows:

1. Enact an honesty-in-politics law that allows for complaints to the provincial Conflict of Interest Commissioner about broken promises, and about dishonest statements made anywhere (including in the legislature) by anyone, including fake online posts during election campaigns, with mandatory high fines as the penalty. Click here to see a detailed report on stopping dishonesty, disinformation and misinformation.

2. Require all provincially regulated industry and service sectors (property and auto insurance, financial and investment services, health care institutions, energy and water) to include a notice in their mailings and emails to customers inviting them to join and fund citizen watchdog groups for each industry and sector, and increase royalties for all resource development sectors and put the money raised into a fund that citizen watchdog groups jointly oversee and use for jointly decided initiatives.

3. Establish a Public Appointments Commission whose members are approved of by the leaders of parties that receive more than 5 percent of the popular vote in the election and/or have seats in the legislature, and require the Commission to conduct public, merit-based searches and choose a short list of a maximum of 3 candidates for all Cabinet appointments (including all watchdogs, police chiefs and provincial judges), and then have an all-party committee required to choose who is appointed from the short list.  Click here to see a detailed policy paper on how to make law enforcement independent, timely, transparent, fair and effective.

4. Enact a meaningful public consultation law that requires broad, in-depth public consultation with voters (including legislature committee hearings) before any government or government institution makes a significant decision, and free and empower MLAs to represent voters and hold the government accountable by restricting the powers of the Premier and all party leaders.

5. Ban gifts and loans from businesses, unions and other organizations, and (as in Quebec) limit individual political donations to $100 annually and, (if parties can prove it is needed) establish per-vote and donation-matching public funding, and ensure election spending and reimbursements apply equally to all parties and candidates.  Click here to see a detailed policy paper on how to ensure a democratic donation and loan system.  Also, restrict advertising spending by third parties to an amount based on the actual number of members of the third-party organization (and have a very low spending limit for individual and business third parties as they don’t represent anyone other than themselves).  Click here to see a detailed policy paper on how to stop unethical, undemocratic influence by third-party individuals and interest groups.

6. Prohibit everyone in politics from participating in any way in any decision-making process if they have even the appearance of a conflict of interest (even if the decision applies generally), and prohibit top politicians and officials from having investments in businesses, and ban anyone who leaves politics from communicating with anyone involved in politics about their decisions for 3-5 years (depending on the relationships and power they held in their former position).  Click here to see a detailed policy paper on how to ensure ethical political decision-making.

7. Require everyone in politics to disclose through an online registry any communication they have with any politician, political staff, appointee or public official with regard to decisions they are making, and prohibit lobbyists from giving gifts or doing favours (including helping with political campaigns or fundraising) to close the secret, unethical lobbying loopholes that now exist.  Click here to see a detailed policy paper on how to stop secret, unethical lobbying.

8. Strengthen the freedom of information law by reducing loopholes, applying it to all government and government-funded institutions, requiring that records of all decisions and actions be disclosed regularly, and giving the Information Commissioner the power to order changes to government institutions’ information systems (as in Britain), and to penalize violators of the law, and ensure effective whistleblower protection by strengthening the rules and powers of the B.C. Ombudsperson to protect all whistleblowers who disclose wrongdoing in the public and private sectors.

9. Change the voting system to ensure a more accurate representation of the popular vote results of each election in the seats held by each party in the legislature (and in city councilors elected) while ensuring that all elected officials are supported by, and are accountable to, voters in each riding/constituency (with a safeguard to ensure that a party with a low-level, narrow-base of support does not have a disproportionately high level of power in the legislature) – and actually fix election dates (as many countries have, as much as possible in our system).

10. Reduce waste of the public’s money by prohibiting omnibus budget bills, and empowering the Auditor General: to approve or reject all significant spending proposals based on an assessment of whether the proposal clearly commits to comply with all waste-prevention requirements, and the  projected amount to be spent is realistic (to ensure truth-in-budgetting); to audit all government and government-funded institutions (including the legislature and MLA offices); to prohibit government advertising if it is misleading or partisan; to order changes to clean up the financial management of any institution, and; to penalize violators of spending and procurement rules.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Campaigns page

Screen allows him to participate in, and hides his participation in, almost all decisions that affect his investments in Brookfield and 655+ other companies, and his blind trust isn’t actually blind

Carney has as many financial conflicts of interest as Trump – only effective way to resolve the conflicts is for Carney to sell his investments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, July 14, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to sell his investments, including arranging to have Brookfield and other companies buy out his stock options, as the only effective way to end the serious, unethical and damaging financial conflicts of interest caused by his investments in more than 550 companies.

PM Carney’s so-called “blind” trust isn’t blind at all because he knows what he put in the trust, chose his own trustee, was allowed to give the trustee instructions such as “don’t sell anything” and the trustee is also allowed to give him regular updates.  In addition, Mr. Carney owns stock options in Brookfield Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management that he can’t sell for years, so he knows for sure that he has those investments.  Click here to see the list of shares in 550+ companies that Mr. Carney owns.

And PM Carney’s so-called “ethics” screen (which only applies to 103 additional companies that are within or connected to the Brookfield conglomerate of companies) is a loophole-filled, unethical smokescreen that allows him to participate in, and hide that he is participating in, almost every decision that affects the companies in which he is invested.

In 1987, Justice Parker of the Parker Commission on conflicts of interest recommended that top politicians and government officials be required to sell all investments, and that blind trusts be banned because they are an ineffective sham.  Click here to see Justice Parker’s report (pages 343-361 (esp. 360-361)).

“Prime Minister Carney has as many financial conflicts of interest as Trump, and his blind trust isn’t blind at all because he knows what stocks he put in it, including stock options he will definitely own for years, and he chose his own trustee and was allowed to give the trustee instructions such as don’t sell anything, and his trustee is allowed to give him regular updates on his investments,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  Click here to see these loopholes in not-blind trusts in ss. 27(4) to (10) of the federal Conflict of Interest Act.

“Because of a huge loophole in the federal government ethics law, Prime Minister Carney’s ethics screen is an unethical, loophole-filled smokescreen as it allows him to participate in almost all decisions that affect the companies he is invested in, and it hides the fact that he is participating in those decisions even though he has a financial conflict of interest and can profit from the decisions,” said Conacher.

The loophole is that as long as the decision applies generally or affects a broad group of people or entities, then PM Carney is allowed to participate in the decision even though it will affect a business he is invested in, and even though he can profit from the decision.  Almost all (99%) of decisions that the PM and Cabinet make apply generally or to a broad group of people or entities.  Click here to see the loophole in the definition of “private interest” in section 2 of the Act.

The screens also all hide the fact that the public office holder is not recusing themselves from decisions even when they have a conflict of interest. Subsection 25(1) of the Act requires a public declaration of recusal every time an office holder recuses themselves, but former Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson created ethics screens to allow office holders to get around that requirement. They set up a screen, claim that they are recusing themselves from all decisions, and then can hide the fact that they are not actually recusing themselves from decisions that affect their financial or other interests.

What could PM Carney (and other Cabinet ministers and top government officials) do after selling all their investments?  They are paid well compared to most Canadians, in the top 1-5% of annual salaries, and they have among the most generous benefits and pension plans of any employees in Canada.  So, instead of enriching themselves further through investing in private businesses that cause financial conflicts of interest that taint their decision-making and policy-making, they can buy government bonds or guaranteed investment certificates or other similar financial products that are not connected to any specific business, and that offer a fixed rate of interest for the time period that they remain in office, and then when they leaves office they can again invest in shares and mutual funds and other financial products for investing in businesses.

Many other changes are needed to other federal laws, including closing similarly huge loopholes in the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (which applies to MPs) and the Senate Ethics Code, closing huge secret, unethical lobbying loopholes, decreasing the donation limit in the Canada Elections Act to $75 (as the current donation limit of $3,500 (which increases by $50 each year) is essentially legalized bribery for those who can afford to make the maximum donation), closing huge excessive secrecy loopholes in the federal Access to Information Act, strengthening the whistleblower protection law, and changing the way that the Ethics Commissioner and other democratic good government watchdogs are appointed (given MPs currently have a clear conflict of interest as they choose their own watchdogs) and banning re-appointments (as that gives a watchdog an incentive to please MPs in order to secure a re-appointment).

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign and Stop Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign

80%+ of Canadians want these rules – 10 rules should make it clear what a vote of non-confidence is, when prorogations are allowed, what can trigger next election etc., and other rules also needed to protect MP and Parliament rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, May 28, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on federal party leaders to learn the lessons of past minority governments and reach an agreement on eight public, written rules for a fair, democratic minority government, as many countries have, and more than 80% of Canadians want, and as the former Governor General called for in August 2016 in an interview with the Hill Times.  The rules should be enacted into law as soon as possible to help ensure Parliament runs fairly, democratically and transparently through to the next election.

The rules should make clear: when Parliament can be closed (prorogued) and for how long; what a vote of non-confidence is and what effects it has; when and how the opposition parties may get a chance to govern; that election dates are fixed unless a vote of non-confidence occurs; which party will get to try governing first after the next election, and; when the legislature will be required to open after the next election (Click here to see Backgrounder listing the 10 rules).

“As long as the federal rules for Parliament are unwritten and unclear, the Prime Minister and ruling party, even in a minority government situation, will be able to abuse their powers as much as President Trump has abused his powers, and Parliament’s ability to hold the government accountable will be undemocratically restricted,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.

“There are no legal or other justifiable reasons for Canada’s political party leaders and the Governor General to fail to enact ten key rules for a fair, democratic minority government,” said Conacher. “It is clearly in the public interest that the ten rules be enacted to stop unfair abuses of power by the Prime Minister and ruling party that undemocratically violate the rights of Parliament and the will of the majority of voters.”

The current rules are unclear because they are unwritten constitutional conventions – even constitutional scholars disagree what lines they draw – or are too vague to be enforceable.  A large majority (78%) of constitutional scholars surveyed in fall 2012 supported writing down the conventions. The vagueness in the rules effectively allows the Prime Minister and ruling party to abuse their powers and violate the rules, as the only way to stop violations is for the unelected, unaccountable Governor General to decide that a violation has occurred and to try to stop the elected Prime Minister from doing what they want.

The Governor General, and lieutenant governors in several provinces, have almost never stopped a Prime Minister or Premier from doing whatever they want, and have allowed premiers to abuse their powers by not opening the legislature after an election, shutting it down arbitrarily for months, and calling snap elections in violation of fixed-election-date laws.  The Governor General allowed former PM Harper to call a snap election in 2008 in violation of the fixed-election-date law, to prorogue Parliament in a very questionable minority government situation, and to declare many votes in Parliament as confidence votes even though they were clearly not confidence votes.  The Governor General also allowed former PM Trudeau to call a snap election in August 2021 in violation of the fixed-election-date law and to prorogue Parliament in January 2025 in a very questionable minority government situation, and allowed PM Mark Carney to call a snap election in April 2025.

In England, Australia and New Zealand, political party leaders and MPs agreed years ago to clear, public rules so what happens after an election is fair for all the parties, and for voters.  Most countries in the world also have clear, public post-election rules.

As well, a survey of more than 2,000 Canadians by Harris-Decima in November-December 2012 showed that 84% of adult Canadians want enforceable rules to restrict key powers of the Prime Minister and provincial premiers.

After the eight rules are enacted into law, Parliament should, as the legislatures in England, Australia and New Zealand have, examine and enact other detailed fairness rules to ensure the legislature and MPs can hold the government accountable.  The rules should cover the following key areas: to ensure Parliament’s rules are enforced in a non-partisan manner, establish that a non-MP shall serve as Speaker of the House of Commons; restrict what can be included in omnibus bills; and set out the freedom and powers of individual politicians to vote how they want on resolutions and bills; how members of legislature committees are chosen; how MPs can be kicked out of a party caucus and reinstated; how an MP can legitimately choose to sit as an independent without facing a by-election; how a party caucus can initiate a review of the party leaders, and; what a Cabinet can do during an election period until the next Cabinet is chosen.

Democracy Watch also called on federal parties to establish a new, democratic and Canadianized process for choosing the next Governor General (who, like the Speaker, is a key guardian of Canada’s democracy) to assert our independence, and stop PM abuses of power.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Stop PM/Premier Power Abuses Campaign and Stop Prorogations and Other Abuses of Power Fund and Stop Muzzling MPs Campaign

GG is a key guardian of Canada’s democracy – must be fully independent and impartial, not handpicked by PM through secretive, biased process

Canada should not request King Charles’ approval of next GG – having the King read Speech from the Throne today is a step backwards that goes against what most voters want, and is not an assertion of Canada’s independence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on federal party leaders to learn the lessons of the past, and strengthen Canada’s sovereignty, by reaching an agreement on a new, democratic and Canadian selection process for the next Governor General (GG) that does not request approval from King Charles (all of which can be done without changing any law or Canada’s Constitution).  The new selection process should begin by the end of 2025 as the current GG’s term ends in July 2026.

Like the Officers of Parliament, the Governor General (GG) must be independent of the Prime Minister and ruling party Cabinet because s/he makes many key decisions about the operations of Parliament and the government, and so the Prime Minister and Cabinet should not be choosing the GG (or any Officer of Parliament) alone because it taints the position with partisanship and makes them weak lapdogs of the PM.

Asking for the King’s approval of our next GG would send a clear signal that Canada still doesn’t have full sovereignty.  Having King Charles read the Speech from the Throne today is a step backwards to when Canada was more controlled by Britain, not an assertion of Canada’s independence.  It also goes against survey results in 2023 (see also here and here and here) and 2024 that show a majority or near majority of Canadians don’t want Canada to continue to be a constitutional monarchy.

It also sends a message to U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada approves of monarchs, which is a dangerous message to send given Trump is acting like he has king-like power and immunity from accountability, including the king-like power to annex Canada.

“Given how important it is for the Governor General to be independent of the Prime Minister and impartial, especially in a minority government situation, federal party leaders should establish a democratic process for choosing the next Governor General,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.  “After the Governor General is chosen through a democratic process, the Prime Minister should also tell King Charles who Canada has chosen, and not ask his approval, and if he accepts that as the new protocol it will become clear that Canada chooses its own head of state.”

To democratize the selection of the Governor General, without needing any changes to any law or Canada’s Constitution, Democracy Watch proposes that an independent committee whose members are approved by all federal party leaders in the House of Commons be established to conduct a public, merit-based search for a shortlist of three nominees for GG, and then at least all federal party leaders should approve the final choice of GG, or better would be a secret, ranked ballot vote by MPs.

Even better, given that the GG appoints the Lieutenant Governors of each province, the Prime Minister should send the shortlist of three nominees to the recognized party leaders in each legislature across Canada and have them rank the nominees in a secret ballot.  The GG would be the person who receives the most votes from this ranked ballot vote.

This would give the GG the democratic legitimacy to say no to abuses of power by the PM, without tainting the GG with partisanship (as would happen if the GG was elected directly by voters, given candidates would very likely run under party banners).

To Canadianize the selection of the Governor General, Democracy Watch proposes that the Prime Minister should not request that King Charles approve of the person chosen through the process.  The King does have to approve the person formally, but if the Prime Minister does not request the approval, and the King agrees to whomever is nominated, then a new constitutional convention will be established that Canada chooses its own Head of State.  This will be a simple but significant step toward full independence for Canada, and would make our political system more a parliamentary democracy and less a constitutional monarchy.

Former Prime Minister Trudeau tried to rig the selection of the Governor General (even more than former Prime Minister Harper did) by setting up a façade of an Advisory Panel, co-chaired by his friend and Cabinet appointee Dominic LeBlanc, with every other member of the Panel also appointed by Trudeau.

Instead, to democratize the selection of the GG, and every other federal good government watchdog, a fully independent committee with members approved by all federal party leaders should be conducting public, merit-based searches for a shortlist of qualified candidates for each position.  Democracy Watch also proposes that this process be used to find qualified non-MP candidates for Speaker of the House of Commons.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Democratic Head Campaign and Stop PM/Premier Abuses Campaign

Bill gives Ford Cabinet powers to override all other provincial laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, May 12, 2025

TORONTO – Today, Democracy Watch joined with advocates from treaty rights and environmental organizations at Queen’s Park to oppose the Doug Ford Ontario government’s proposed Bill 5 (especially Schedule 9).

Bill 5 would give the Premier and his cabinet unprecedented control over the province, including the ability to exempt individuals and corporations from provincial and municipal laws and bypass consultation with Indigenous communities.

If passed, Bill 5 would:

•  Allow the premier and cabinet to designate “special economic zones” in which “trusted proponents” would be given the authority to undertake projects without regard to provincial and municipal laws;

•  Exempt developments from archeological assessments if the Ontario government is of the opinion that an exemption “could potentially advance one or more of the following provincial priorities”: transit; housing; health and long-term care; other infrastructure; and such other priorities as may be prescribed. Archeological assessments often trigger the duty to consult with Indigenous communities and First Nations governments;

•  Repeal Ontario’s Endangered Species Act – ending most meaningful protections for endangered, threatened and special concern species and their habitat; and

•  Terminate comprehensive environmental assessments for two projects: the proposed Eagle’s Nest mine in Northern Ontario and the proposed Dresden Dump. The environmental assessments for both projects were put into place to provide forward-looking understanding of environmental and socio-economic conditions and impacts of planned developments to government decision-makers, Indigenous communities as well as members of the public.

“The bill is dangerously undemocratic as it proposes to give the Ford cabinet unconstitutional, king-like powers to change any law without a review or vote of approval by Ontario’s legislature, and also proposes to prohibit anyone from going to court to challenge the cabinet’s abuses of power,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.

“Premier Ford promised to protect Ontario, but Bill 5 breaks that promise,” said Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence. “He’s making it easier for his friends to pave over farms, forests and wetlands and wipe out endangered species without any guardrails. Just like we did with the Greenbelt, we need to come together to stop his attack.”

“We cannot and will not support development that bypasses consultation, ignores our rights and puts the environment and our heritage at risk. We call on the Ontario government to immediately pause Bill 5. Ontario cannot legislate away its responsibilities,” said Grand Chief Joel Abram, Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians.

“It is our duty and responsibility to protect our Mother Earth, our water, that gives us life. We have seen what greed did to our traditional territory and the contamination caused by De Beers’ mining projects to our river. We have a duty to stand up and protect these lands. They are not just resources to be extracted – they are living, breathing relatives that sustain us all,” said Michel J. Koostachin, Founder of Friends of the Attawapiskat River.

“Neskantaga stands in opposition to this Bill. We will fight the bulldozers that the Ford Government wants to fast-track. Even if you take away all your environmental laws and protections – our laws live on. Our people will meet you on the land. These are our homelands and our consent has not been provided to cross the river system of our homelands. Premier Ford keeps saying Canada is not for sale—we say our lands are actually not for sale,” said Chief Gary Quisses, Neskantaga First Nation.

Representatives from Archaeological Research Associates Ltd, EcoJustice, GASP, Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence, McCoy Archaeological Services, Ontario Place for All, Ontario Nature, the Toronto Zoo and Wilderness Committee were also at Queen’s Park to voice their opposition to Bill 5.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Stop PM/Premier Power Abuses Campaign

Le projet de loi donne au cabinet Ford le pouvoir d’annuler toutes les autres lois provinciales

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POUR PUBLICATION IMMÉDIATE:
Lundi, 12 mai 2025

TORONTO – Aujourd’hui, Democracy Watch s’est joint à des défenseurs des droits issus de traités et à des organisations environnementales à Queen’s Park pour s’opposer au projet de Projet de loi 5 du gouvernement ontarien de Doug Ford (en particulier Annexe 9).

Les droits issus de traités et les droits issus de l’environnement sont des droits fondamentaux de la personne.

S’il est adopté, le projet de loi 5 aurait pour effet de :

&bull ;  Permettre au premier ministre et au cabinet de désigner des “zones économiques spéciales” dans lesquelles des “promoteurs de confiance” seraient autorisés à entreprendre des projets sans tenir compte des lois provinciales et municipales;

&bull ;  Exempter les développements des évaluations archéologiques si le gouvernement de l’Ontario est d’avis qu’une exemption “pourrait potentiellement faire avancer une ou plusieurs des priorités provinciales suivantes” : transport en commun ; logement ; santé et soins de longue durée ; autres infrastructures ; et toute autre priorité qui pourrait être prescrite. Les évaluations archéologiques déclenchent souvent l’obligation de consulter les communautés autochtones et les gouvernements des Premières nations.

&bull ;  Abroger la Loi sur les espèces en voie de disparition de l’Ontario – mettant fin aux protections les plus significatives pour les espèces en voie de disparition, menacées et préoccupantes, ainsi que leur habitat ; et

&bull ;  Mettre fin aux évaluations environnementales exhaustives de deux projets : le projet de mine Eagle’s Nest dans le nord de l’Ontario et le projet de décharge de Dresden. Les évaluations environnementales de ces deux projets ont été mises en place pour permettre aux décideurs gouvernementaux, aux communautés autochtones et aux membres du public d’avoir une compréhension prospective des conditions environnementales et socio-économiques et de l’impact des développements prévus.

“Le projet de loi est dangereusement antidémocratique car il propose de donner au cabinet Ford des pouvoirs inconstitutionnels, semblables à ceux d’un roi, lui permettant de modifier n’importe quelle loi sans examen ni vote d’approbation par la législature de l’Ontario, et il propose également d’interdire à quiconque de s’adresser aux tribunaux pour contester les abus de pouvoir du cabinet”, a déclaré Duff Conacher, cofondateur de Democracy Watch.

“Le premier ministre Ford a promis de protéger l’Ontario, mais le projet de loi 5 rompt cette promesse”, a déclaré Tim Gray, directeur exécutif d’Environmental Defence.

“Nous ne pouvons pas soutenir et nous ne soutiendrons pas un développement qui contourne la consultation, ignore nos droits et met en péril l’environnement et notre patrimoine. Nous demandons au gouvernement de l’Ontario de suspendre immédiatement le projet de loi 5. L’Ontario ne peut pas légiférer pour se décharger de ses responsabilités”, a déclaré le grand chef Joel Abram, de l’Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians.

“Il est de notre devoir et de notre responsabilité de protéger notre Terre mère, notre eau, qui nous donne la vie. Nous avons vu ce que la cupidité a fait à notre territoire traditionnel et la contamination de notre rivière par les projets miniers de De Beers. Nous avons le devoir de nous lever et de protéger ces terres. Ce ne sont pas seulement des ressources à extraire, ce sont des parents vivants qui nous soutiennent tous”, a déclaré Michel J. Koostachin, fondateur de Friends of the Attawapiskat River.

Michel J. Koostachin, fondateur de Friends of the Attawapiskat River.

“Neskantaga s’oppose à ce projet de loi. Nous combattrons les bulldozers que le gouvernement Ford veut accélérer. Même si vous supprimez toutes vos lois et protections environnementales, nos lois sont toujours en vigueur. Notre peuple vous rencontrera sur le terrain. Il s’agit de nos terres et nous n’avons pas donné notre accord pour traverser le réseau fluvial de nos terres. Le premier ministre Ford ne cesse de dire que le Canada n’est pas à vendre – nous disons que nos terres ne sont pas à vendre”, a déclaré le chef Gary Quisses, de la Première nation Neskantaga.

Des représentants d’Archaeological Research Associates Ltd, d’EcoJustice, de GASP, de Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence, de McCoy Archaeological Services, d’Ontario Place for All, d’Ontario Nature, du zoo de Toronto et du Wilderness Committee étaient également présents à Queen’s Park pour exprimer leur opposition au projet de loi no 5.

Les représentants de la Première nation de Neskantaga ont également exprimé leur opposition au projet de loi no 5.

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POUR PLUS D’INFORMATIONS, CONTACTEZ:
Duff Conacher, Co-fondateur de Democracy Watch
Tel : (613) 241-5179
Cell : 416-546-3443
Email : [email protected]

La campagne de Démocratie en surveillance Stop PM/Premier ministre pour les abus de pouvoir

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