All party leaders should together choose an independent prosecutor to review AG’s and make prosecution decisions

House Board and Senate committee and arbitrator don’t do audits, are conflict-ridden kangaroo courts, and so won’t ever stop fraud spending

NHL hockey teams and players are not allowed to enforce the rules of their game themselves behind closed doors, and politicians shouldn’t be allowed to either

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 9, 2015

OTTAWA – Today, as the Auditor General (AG) released his report on senators’ spending, Democracy Watch called on senators and MPs to admit the AG has the legal power to audit their spending at any time, and called on the AG to start random, unannounced audits now.

Democracy Watch also called on all party leaders to choose together a fully independent prosecutor to review the AG’s findings and make prosecution decisions. The RCMP Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions were both chosen by the Conservatives, and many commentators have raised concerns about an email the RCMP Commissioner sent to senior officers in 2013 and what the policy set out in the email reveals about the Commissioner’s relationship with the Conservative Cabinet and how it affects the ability of the RCMP to make independent law enforcement decisions (See criticisms here, and here, and here).

“The RCMP Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions were both chosen by Conservatives, and there are serious questions about the Commissioner’s lack of independence from the Cabinet, and so to ensure fair and just decisions about prosecutions of senators all the federal party leaders should choose together a fully independent, non-partisan independent prosecutor to review the Auditor General’s findings,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch and Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa.

“The House Board and Senate committee don’t audit MP or senator spending, and are conflict-ridden kangaroo courts that will never stop fraud spending,” said Conacher. “The only way to stop fraud spending by politicians is to have the Auditor General do random, unannounced audits, and the auditor has the clear legal power to do these audits so he should start doing them right now.”

“NHL hockey teams and players are not allowed to enforce the rules of their game themselves behind closed doors, and politicians shouldn’t be allowed to either,” said Conacher.

More than 90,000 messages have been sent to federal politicians through Democracy Watch’s Stop Fraud Politician Spending Campaign calling on them to agree that the Auditor General has the clear legal power to audit their spending, and to make other key changes

Currently, MPs claim that only the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy, which is made up of MPs, has the power to review MPs’ spending, and senators claim that only their Internal Economy committee has this power (although they have recently established an arbitrator position to resolve disputes between any senator and the committee).

The problem is that neither the House Board nor the Senate committee actually audit spending by MPs or senators, and they are both conflict-ridden kangaroo courts because they are made up of politicians judging each other.

Senators invited the AG in to do the audit that is being reported today, but have said nothing about having the AG do regular audits.  MPs have claimed that the AG also needs their permission to audit them, and unfortunately the AG has been waiting for that permission.

The Auditor General Act states that the Auditor General “shall make such examinations and inquiries” needed “to report as required by this Act” (section 5).  The Act requires the Auditor to audit the “public accounts” (which includes all the money spent by federal government institutions, including the House of Commons and Senate) and issue reports on whether the public’s money is being spent in ways that are proper, efficient and waste-preventing.

The Act also states that the Auditor General has the right “to information that relates to the fulfillment of his or her responsibilities” (subsections 13(1) and (4)) so he clearly has the right to look at MP expenses.

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

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Democracy Watch’s Stop Fraud Politician Spending Campaign

Likely 1,600 public office holders have violated ethics rules in Conflict of Interest Act or MP Code from 2007 to 2014 but only five have been found guilty of violating Act or Code

From 2007 to 2014, Ethics Commissioner Dawson made 149 secret rulings, issued only 25 public rulings, and let 75 (94%) of people who clearly violated the rules off the hook

Commissioner doesn’t audit financial statements of activities of any politician or official, and hasn’t uncovered any violations, so likely only 5% of violators are caught – law and enforcement must be strengthened

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on the Auditor General to audit federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson’s performance record similar to the review the auditor did in 2010 of the very negligently weak enforcement record of the former federal Integrity Commissioner. Commissioner Dawson is the enforcer of the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (“MP Code”) and she has an enforcement record for both that is as bad as the former Integrity Commissioner’s record.

Ethics Commissioner Dawson will present a paper on her enforcement record at the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) conference at 8:45 am tomorrow, Thursday, June 4, 2015. Democracy Watch’s Co-founder Duff Conacher will be there to publicly challenge her weak record.

On May 27, 2015, as she has in the past, Commissioner Dawson testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access, Ethics and Privacy and stated that “Effectively, the way my office operates…[is] if anything comes in [as a complaint] we look into it unless it’s nutty but most of them are not… and “I see my role as if I become aware in any way of the Act appearing not to be followed, or the Code, then I should follow up and see what’s going on.”

Despite testifying that most of the complaints she receives have some validity, Commissioner Dawson has failed to issue a public ruling for 149 (85%) of the 174 complaints she has received since 2007. In other words, she has issued public rulings for only 25 (15%) of the 174 complaints she has received.

Of the 25 cases the Ethics Commissioner has ruled on, she has only found five people (20%) guilty. The Ethics Commissioner did not discover any of the situations she investigated – all of them were uncovered by the media, other watchdog agencies or the public. Commissioner Dawson did not discover any violations because she does not do any audits of the financial statements submitted to her by politicians and officials covered by the ethics rules, nor does she audit any of their activities while they are in office or after they leave office (even though some ethics rules cover them for the rest of their lives).

The Ethics Commissioner should have found 80 people guilty since 2007 through her 25 public rulings (and likely many more given her 149 secret rulings). In other words, the Ethics Commissioner has found only five of 80 people guilty, thereby letting 94% of the people who have violated the Act or MP Code since 2007 off the hook. The following 75 people were let off the hook by the Ethics Commissioner with very questionable rulings that ignored clear rules, facts and common sense (showing just how much federal ethics rules and enforcement are an ongoing bad joke):

• Prime Minister Harper (1^st time re: Brian Mulroney; 2^nd time re: Peter Penashue);
• Nigel Wright (1^st time re: communications with companies in which he had a financial interest; 2^nd time re: again communicating with organization in which he had a financial interest; 3^rd time re: intervening in audit of Senator Mike Duffy’s expenses);
• Several other PMO staff re: intervening in audit of Senator Duffy’s expenses;
• Chuck Strahl;
• David Anderson;
• Kerry-Lynne Findlay;
• Colin Carrie;
• Eve Adams;
• Jim Flaherty (1^st time (PDF of ruling) re: allowing his office handing out contract to a former campaigner for him; 2^nd time re: writing letter to CRTC on behalf of supporter (was ordered not to do it again, but was not found in violation of Act for doing it));
• Tony Clement;
• Lisa Raitt;
• Rick Dykstra;
• 25 Cabinet ministers, ministers of state and parliamentarians who along with 35 Conservative MPs handed out government cheques with Conservative Party logos on them (Click here to see PDF of Commissioner’s Dawson’s very flawed 2009 report).

Given Ethics Commissioner Dawson’s weak enforcement record, and her failure to conduct any audits of the more than 7,000 current or former public office holders covered by federal ethics rules since she began her position in July 2007 (audits that experts in law enforcement agree are necessary for effective law enforcement) it is reasonable to assume that only 5% of people who have violated the Act or MP Code have been caught. As a result, it is reasonable to assume that 1,600 people have violated the Act or Code since 2007 and that Commissioner Dawson has found out about only 80 (5%) of them (and even that is a conservatively low estimate given that Commissioner Dawson has made 149 secret rulings).

“Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has let dozens of politicians who clearly violated ethics rules off the hook with very questionable rulings since 2007, and she may be covering up almost 150 dangerously unethical situations that have happened since 2007, and given that she doesn’t audit the financial statements or activities of any politician or official there are likely 1,600 people who have violated federal ethics rules that she has failed to catch,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the 31-member group, nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition. “Commissioner Dawson has a negligently weak enforcement record as bad as the former Integrity Commissioner’s record, and so Democracy Watch is calling on the Auditor General to do a similar review as the auditor did in 2010 of the former Integrity Commissioner’s performance.”

“There will never be effective ethics enforcement in federal politics as long as Mary Dawson is the Ethics Commissioner and the rules are loophole-filled and allow for her ongoing negligently weak enforcement,” said Conacher. “To end this negligent enforcement of federal ethics rules, the Ethics Commissioner must be replaced with an effective watchdog who is required to issue public rulings on every complaint, and to conduct regular, random audits and to penalize anyone who violates ethics rules with high fines, and anyone must be allowed to challenge the Ethics Commissioner’s often questionable rulings in court.”

The Conflict of Interest Act and the MP and senator ethics codes are so full of loopholes, they should be called the “Almost Impossible to be in a Conflict of Interest Rules” — and even worse the rules don’t even apply to the staff and advisers of MPs and senators. Currently, because of these huge loopholes, the Act and codes do not apply to 99% of the decisions and actions of the people covered by the Act and codes.

The ethics codes that federal politicians have imposed on public servants contain much stronger rules than the rules the politicians have written for themselves, and the penalties are stronger, including the possibility of being fired.

The Conservative majority on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics ignored these loopholes and enforcement problems in its February 2014 report on the Conflict of Interest Act. The NDP issued a dissenting report calling for some specific key changes to the Act, and the Liberals also issued a dissenting report that criticized the Conservatives for ignoring the problems (but did not recommend any changes).

Meanwhile, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs failed to complete the five-year review of the MP Code in 2014 after weakening it with various changes in 2006 and with various changes in 2009 (after unethical behind-closed-door meetings with Commissioner Dawson).

“Unethical decision-making in federal politics is legal, even by Cabinet ministers, and some political staff and appointees are still not covered by any ethics rules, so loopholes must be closed and enforcement strengthened to finally stop dangerously undemocratic and corrupting actions and relations with lobbyists,” said Conacher.

The details of Commissioner Dawson’s record, according to the information in her Annual Reports, are as follows:

• July 2007 – Mar. 31, 2012
  According Ethics Commissioner Dawson’s annual reports, from 2007 to April 2012 she rejected at least 83 complaints filed with her without issuing a public ruling (it could be more as she did not disclose the total number of complaints she received in 2008-2009 nor in 2010-2011). During that time period, Commissioner Dawson received complaints about, or became aware of, a total of at least 100 questionable situations, but she only issued 17 public rulings, and only found 3 people guilty of violating ethics rules (a few more were found guilty of violating administrative rules, like missing filing deadlines etc.).
• 2011-2012 — 69 public office holders missed financial statement filing deadline but only one was fined;
• April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013
  48 cases worked on; 57 missed filing deadline for financial statements and 17 fined; 32 investigations of violations of ethics rules initiated but only 6 fully examined as violations of Act; closed a total of 33 case files, 24 without a full examination; issued 4 rulings and found 2 office holders guilty of violating ethics rules in Act (Sullivan and Hill);
• April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2014
  41 cases worked on; 51 missed filing deadline for financial statements but she only fined 16; 41 investigations initiated but only 3 fully examined as violations of Act; closed a total of 35 case files, 32 without a full examination; issued 3 rulings and found no office holders guilty of violating Act (Sullivan and Hill), and;
• April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015 – Annual Report 2014-2015 not yet available

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

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Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign

Likely 1,600 lobbyists have violated Lobbying Act or Lobbyists’ Code since 2007 but only one has been found guilty of violating Act (with two others currently charged), and only 13 have been found in violation of the Code (none since 2012)

In past 11 years, the Commissioner, RCMP and Crown prosecutors have decided not to penalize 67 lobbyists who have violated the Act and Code (who they are has been kept secret) – 81% of the lobbyists caught violating the Act and Code have not been penalized or prosecuted

Another 52 people have been caught lobbying without registering but have been let off the hook because loopholes in the Act mean their secret lobbying was legal (who they are remains secret)

Commissioner doesn’t do any audits to find unregistered communications with government institutions and officials, so likely only 5% of violators are caught – law and enforcement must be strengthened

Monday, June 1, 2015

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on the Auditor General to audit federal Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd’s and the RCMP performance record similar to the review the auditor did in 2010 of the very negligently weak enforcement record of the former federal Integrity Commissioner. Commissioner Shepherd is the front-line enforcer of the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and the RCMP are supposed to assist in enforcement. Together their enforcement record is as bad as the former Integrity Commissioner’s record.

In the past 11 years, the Commissioner of Lobbying, RCMP and Crown prosecutors have secretly decided not to penalize or prosecute 67 lobbyists who have violated the Act and Code (who they are remains secret). Another 52 people have been caught lobbying without registering but have been let off the hook because loopholes in the Act mean their secret lobbying was legal.

Since 1988, only one person has been found guilty of violating the Act, only two other people have been charged with violating the Act (Bruce Carson and Jamie Carroll), and only 13 have been found guilty of violating the Code. Commissioner Shepherd took until November 2011 to issue the first valid ruling on a violation of the Code, and two of the 13 who have been found guilty after the Commissioner was forced by court order to issue rulings. Commissioner Shepherd has not found anyone guilty of violating the Code since 2012.

So overall, since 1988, the Commissioner of Lobbying and her predecessors, and the RCMP, have only caught 83 people violating the Act and Code (anyone who violates the Act is automatically in violation of the Code) even though there are 5,000 registered federal lobbyists at any one time, and tens of thousands of people who have lobbied the federal government since 2007 when Commissioner Shepherd began her position – and 67 of those 83 people have been let off the hook.

In other words, Commissioner Shepherd, the RCMP and Crown prosecutors have decided not to penalize 81% of the lobbyists who have been caught violating the Act and Code.

On May 27, 2015, as she has in the past, Commissioner Shepherd testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access, Ethics and Privacy and stated that her only enforcement action concerning unregistered communications between lobbyists and government institutions and officials is “monitoring the media”. She doesn’t do any random auditing of communications – which experts in law enforcement agree are necessary for effective law enforcement.

Given the weak enforcement practices, approach, attitude and record of Commissioner Shepherd, it is reasonable to assume that only 5% of violators are likely caught. As a result, it is reasonable to conclude that actually about 1,600 people have violated the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct since 2004, with 95% of them not even caught, and 81% of those who were caught let off the hook.

“Lobbying Commissioner Shepherd has clearly failed to enforce the federal lobbying law and code effectively as she has failed to even name and shame 81 percent of the lobbyists caught violating the law,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch and Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa. “Together with the RCMP and Crown prosecutors, she has a negligently weak enforcement record as bad as the former Integrity Commissioner’s record, and so Democracy Watch is calling on the Auditor General to do a similar review as the auditor did in 2010 of the former Integrity Commissioner’s performance.”

As well, the Act needs to be strengthened in all the ways the House Committee recommended in its May 2012 report, and more, to ensure secret, unethical lobbying is finally made effectively illegal and that most violators will be caught and effectively penalized. Conservative Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement has failed to do anything to implemented key changes recommended by the Committee.

The details of Commissioner Shepherd’s, the RCMP’s and Crown prosecutors’ very weak enforcement record are as follows:

• from April 1, 2004-March 31, 2011, secret rulings let at least 32 lobbyists off the hook because the RCMP and Crown refused to prosecute, and the Commissioner of Lobbying (or past Registrar of Lobbyists) has failed to rule publicly in all 32 cases that the lobbyist violated Lobbyists’ Code; the Commissioner also failed to rule publicly on more than 55 cases, and; at least 17 lobbyists were caught lobbying but let off the hook with secret rulings because of loopholes in the Lobbying Act;
• from April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012, 18 new reviews were initiated and 30 reviews were completed, while three new investigations were initiated and six completed; of these, 15 new reviews found violations, but the Commissioner let six of the violators off the hook; as well, during this fiscal year, the Commissioner completed six other reviews from past years in which she let the violators off the hook, and closed two other cases from 2004-2005 that the Commissioner/Registrar had negligently failed to rule on for eight years, and let both violators off the hook; five were found guilty of violating the Code, but another six lobbyists were let off the hook because of loopholes in the Act;
• from April 1, 2012-March 31, 2013, 22 new reviews were initiated and 27 reviews were completed, while 3 new investigations were initiated and six completed; of these, 10 new reviews found violations, but the Commissioner let five of the violators off the hook; as well, during this fiscal year, the Commissioner completed three other reviews from past years in which she let the violators off the hook, and closed five other cases from 2006-2007 that the Commissioner/Registrar had negligently failed to rule on for six years, and let all five violators off the hook; no one was found guilty of violating the Code, and another 10 lobbyists were let off the hook because of loopholes in the Act;
• from April 1, 2013-March 31, 2014, 17 new reviews were initiated and 21 reviews were completed, while no new investigations were initiated, and none were completed; of these, two new reviews found violations, but the Commissioner let both of the violators off the hook; as well, during this fiscal year, the Commissioner completed five other reviews from past years in which she let the violators off the hook, and closed one other case from 2009 that the Commissioner/Registrar had negligently failed to rule on for four years, and let that violator off the hook; one lobbyist was found guilty of violating the Act (the first ever), and two people were charged, but no one was found guilty of violating the Code; an additional eight lobbyists were let off the hook after reviews because of loopholes in the Act while another 11 were contacted for what seemed like lobbying but claimed they were not required to register because of the loopholes, and;
• 38 cases still open as of March 31, 2014 –Commissioner Shepherd’s 2014-2015 annual report not yet available.

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

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Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign