Trudeau Liberals’ own report showed all stakeholders want 10 key changes to Access to Information Act, but they refuse to commit to changing it

Other key open government changes also needed to end secret lobbying, end secret investments by politicians, their staff and Cabinet appointees, and strengthen whistleblower protection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

OTTAWA – In its testimony this afternoon, Democracy Watch will call on MPs on the House of Commons Ethics Committee reviewing the federal Access to Information Act (ATIA) not only to recommend 18 key changes, but also to co-sponsor a private member bill that contains the 18 changes that have been called for by most stakeholders for years to make the ATIA an actual open government law, and to make enforcement more independent, fully resourced, timely and effective, including by penalizing violations with high fines.

Treasury Board Minister Mona Fortier’s testimony on April 18th before the Committee made it very clear that, while the Trudeau Cabinet claims it believes access to government information is essential to democracy, and that the 70% timely response rate on ATIA requests is not good enough, it is only committed to improving administration of the ATIA, not closing any of the many excessive secrecy loopholes in the law or strengthening enforcement or establishing penalties for violations.

The Trudeau Cabinet is refusing to commit to strengthening the ATIA in any way even though its own December 2021 report on public consultations made it clear that all stakeholders want 10 key ATIA rule changes.

The more comprehensive list of 18 changes (click here to see PDF of Democracy Watch’s submission to the Committee from last October) is based mainly upon the Ethics Committee’s unanimous June 2016 report that called for many key changes, the former Information Commissioner’s March 2015 report and the current Commissioner’s January 2021 report that both called for key changes.

“Citizen groups and experts have loudly and clearly called for decades for key changes to close loopholes in the federal access to information law, and strengthen enforcement,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “The Ethics Committee MPs must not only call on the Trudeau Liberals to stop their spin, lame excuses and unjustifiable delays, they should also co-sponsor a bill as soon as possible to make the key changes that voters want to ensure all federal government and government-funded institutions are transparent and accountable.”

“The federal access to information law is so full of loopholes that it really is just a guide to keeping information secret that the public has a right to know, and the key changes that stakeholders are calling for will, if MPs implement them together, make the law more effective at ensuring transparency,” said Conacher.

Despite committing to make government information “open by default” in their 2015 federal election platform, the Trudeau Liberals have broken almost all of their open government promises, and have shown little interest in strengthening the ATIA. The Liberals made no ATIA promises in their 2021 election platform, and made no commitments in their new National Action Plan for the international Open Government Partnership process. Also, Treasury Board Minister Mona Fortier’s statement on the release of the government’s consultation report last December committed only to a “review of access to information” – not to making changes.

The Trudeau Cabinet’s Bill C-58 in 2017 changing the federal Access to Information Act ignored many of the recommendations made in the unanimous June 2016 report of the House of Commons Access, Privacy and Ethics Committee, and was actually a step backwards in some ways.

Democracy Watch through its Open Government Campaign has been pushing to strengthen the ATIA for more than 20 years, including through a global coalition open letter in 2017, as have opposition MPs and the Information Commissioner. Democracy Watch’s coalitions have also been pushing for years for key transparency and integrity changes to the federal Lobbying Act, Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, and Conflict of Interest Act and related MP and Senate and government-wide ethics rules.

“The Trudeau Liberals broke most of their promises to close loopholes in Canada’s open government law, and strengthen transparency rules for government spending, and they have done nothing to strengthen protections for whistleblowers who report government wrongdoing nor to close loopholes that allow secret lobbying and secret investments by politicians, staff and Cabinet appointees,” said Conacher.

– 30 –

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 Open Government Campaign, Protect Whistleblowers Campaign, Government Ethics Campaign and Stop Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign

Interim Ethics Commissioner should not investigate if handpicked by Trudeau Cabinet – Commissioner should be appointed by all parties after independent committee does merit-based search for a short list of qualified candidates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, April 24, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released the 6-page letter it has sent to the federal Ethics Commissioner’s office calling for an independent investigation and ruling on whether Prime Minister Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act (the “COIA”) by giving his friend David Johnston a government contract to be “special rapporteur” on foreign interference.

As Democracy Watch’s letter details, both Prime Minister Trudeau and David Johnston have said publicly that they are friends.

As the letter also details, the COIA prohibits the PM, Cabinet ministers, their staff and appointees from furthering the private interests of themselves, their relatives and friends (sections 4 and 6(1)), as the Ethics Commissioner ruled recently on Minister Mary Ng handing a contract to her friend Amanda Alvaro, and also ruled in 2021 on former Finance Minister Bill Morneau participating in the decision to hand a grant to his friend and WE Canada co-founder Craig Kielburger.

Even if PM Trudeau and Mr. Johnston are only family friends, the COIA also prohibits “improperly” furthering the private interests of any person or entity, and it is clearly improper for the PM to hand a government contract to a family friend.

No one should call Mr. Johnston the “Independent Special Rapporteur” because he is not independent in any way from Prime Minister Trudeau – he was chosen by Trudeau; serves at his pleasure; has no job security, and; has no powers under any statute or regulation to investigate anything.

Given, unless the Liberals do the right thing and quickly change the watchdog appointment process, Trudeau will appoint the Interim Ethics Commissioner and next full-time Ethics Commissioner, whoever is handpicked as the Commissioner should not rule on DWatch’s complaint as they would be biased in favour of Trudeau (especially if they are applying to be appointed by Trudeau to the full-time Commissioner job). The Ethics Commissioner’s senior lawyer is also Trudeau Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc’s sister-in-law.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in 2020 that the Cabinet is biased when it chooses democracy watchdogs like the Commissioner. The Trudeau Cabinet should, finally, remove the bias by establishing a fully independent appointments advisory committee whose members are approved by all parties in the House of Commons (which Stephen Harper promised back in 2006), with the committee doing a public, merit-based search for a short list of qualified candidates, and then an all-party House Committee would make the final choice. This appointments system should be used for all the federal democratic good government watchdogs.

“Democracy Watch is calling on the office of the ethics commissioner to ensure an independent investigation into Prime Minister Trudeau handing his friend David Johnston a government contract,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “If the Trudeau Cabinet chooses the interim ethics commissioner, then that person should not rule on this situation because they will be biased in favour of Trudeau.”

“The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the Cabinet is biased when they choose watchdogs who enforce laws that apply to the Cabinet, and so the appointments system must change for all the watchdogs by having a fully independent committee doing a public, merit-based search for qualified candidates, and then an all-party committee making the final choice,” said Conacher.

– 30 –

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 and Government Ethics Campaign and Stop Bad Government Appointments Campaign

Trudeau Cabinet currently handpicking Ethics Commissioner, RCMP Commissioner, Integrity Commissioner who all enforce laws that apply to Cabinet

Trudeau Cabinet’s appointments process is as partisan, Cabinet-controlled and political as past government’s processes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 20, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on the Trudeau Cabinet to stop its multi-year charade and establish an actually independent, merit-based appointment process for all the federal democratic good government watchdogs.

Despite promising in the 2015 federal election to change the process, the Trudeau Cabinet didn’t actually change it. Cabinet ministers still choose all appointment advisory committee members (which all have ministers, their staff and/or Privy Council Office staff as members), and choose all appointees from the long lists of candidates that the committees provide, with little or no consultation with opposition parties.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in January 2020 that the Cabinet is biased when choosing watchdogs such as the Ethics Commissioner and Commissioner of Lobbying.

Past appointments by the Trudeau Cabinet have shown clearly that the appointment process is far from merit-based. Former Ontario Liberal MPP Madeleine Meilleur admitted in spring 2017 before a House Committee that when she was considering ending her political career she had talked with Trudeau’s then-senior adviser Gerald Butts, and also his Chief of Staff Katie Telford, and asked to be appointed as federal Commissioner of Official Languages. Her statement became so politically costly to the Trudeau Cabinet that she ended up withdrawing her candidacy.

Mario Dion, who was handpicked to be Ethics Commissioner in November 2017 by the Trudeau Cabinet through a secretive, dishonest process, had a record of eight unethical actions in his former job as Integrity Commissioner. The Cabinet hid emails for two years that showed they had other qualified candidates for Ethics Commissioner, and also for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, and lied to opposition party leaders.

Given the resignation yesterday of Interim Ethics Commissioner Martine Richard, who never should have been appointed given she is the sister-in-law of Trudeau Cabinet Minister Dominic LeBlanc, the Trudeau Cabinet is currently handpicking the following watchdogs, all of whom enforce key democracy laws that apply to the Cabinet:

• the Interim Ethics Commissioner;
• the Ethics Commissioner;
• the Integrity Commissioner, and;
• the RCMP Commissioner.

The Trudeau Cabinet has also handpicked, through partisan, political Cabinet-controlled processes, all of Canada’s other current democratic good government watchdogs: the Chief Electoral Officer (who was switched by the Trudeau Cabinet for secret reasons); Commissioner of Lobbying; Auditor General; Information Commissioner; Privacy Commissioner, and; Parliamentary Budget Officer.

To ensure merit-based appointments, a fully independent Appointments Commission should be established (as Prime Minister Harper promised to do back in 2006), with the Commission members approved by all parties, and then the Commission will do public, merit-based searches and submit a short list of no more than three well-qualified candidates to an all-party committee, which will make the final choice for each watchdog position.

“Like every Cabinet, the Trudeau Cabinet is in a conflict of interest when choosing democratic good government watchdog because those watchdogs enforce laws that apply to Cabinet ministers and their departments,” said Conacher. “The only way to stop this dangerously undemocratic and unethical appointment process is to establish a fully independent appointments commission to conduct public, merit-based searches and then send a short list of well-qualified candidates to an all-party committee which will make the final choice for each watchdog position.”

More than 15,000 Canadians have sent a letter through Democracy Watch’s Stop Bad Government Appointments Campaign calling on the federal Liberals to make the Cabinet appointment process actually independent and merit-based.

– 30 –

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 Bad Government Appointments Campaign

Do the violations include unregistered, unethical lobbying by Facebook, WE Charity and/or SNC-Lavalin lobbyists, or unethical lobbying by Imperial Oil and other business lobbyists at events they sponsor?

Are the RCMP and Commissioner keeping rulings on 11 total violations secret because they relate to her gutting of key ethical lobbying rules?

26 groups with 1.5 million+ supporters, 41 lawyers and professors, 20,000+ voters and the Globe and Mail oppose the Commissioner gutting the rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 13, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger to release her rulings on five violations of the Lobbying Act that she referred to the RCMP from January 2018 to fall 2020. The key question is whether Commissioner Bélanger and the RCMP are hiding the rulings on the five violations, and on six other violations, because they involve key ethical lobbying rules that the Commissioner is proposing to gut despite widespread opposition.

The Commissioner testified in November 2020 before the House Ethics Committee that she had referred 11 cases to the RCMP since she became Commissioner in January 2018.

On February 3, 2023, she told the Committee that she had not referred any more cases to the RCMP, but that the RCMP had let the lobbyists involved in five situations off the hook and referred the cases back to her (click here and see page 7 of PDF). She also said that the RCMP had charged one lobbyist – not surprisingly, given how secretive it is, the RCMP did not issue a news release about the charge.

That means there are also five other lobbying law violation cases the RCMP has been investigating for more than two years. How could these five investigations possibly take that long, and why are these five violations still being kept secret?

The five violation situations that have been referred back to the Commissioner may include:

1. The unregistered lobbying and favours for Cabinet ministers that Kevin Chan and others at Facebook did (click here to see DWatch’s April 2018 complaint to the Commissioner);
2. The unregistered lobbying that WE Charity lobbyists did from January 2019 to August 2020, and the trip gifts they gave to former Finance Minister Bill Morneau and his family;
3. The lobbying by former PCO Clerk Kevin Lynch for SNC-Lavalin that was not registered by CEO Neil Bruce (click here to see DWatch’s March 2019 complaint), and also by SNC-Lavalin lawyer Robert Pritchard and others;
4. The lobbying by Imperial Oil of then-Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, and by CPA Canada of Minister Karina Gould, at a May 2019 event they sponsored?

“It’s shameful that the RCMP and Crown prosecutors continue to take so long to investigate lobbyists who violate the law, and continue to fail to prosecute most violations,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “By continuing to hide her rulings on the five lobbying violation situations, Commissioner Bélanger is not only protecting the lobbyists and the politicians and public officials they were lobbying, she is also covering up situations that may relate to her proposed gutting of key ethical lobbying rules.”

Commissioner Bélanger is currently proposing to gut key federal ethical lobbying rules in the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct in ways that will allow lobbyists to do significant campaigning for, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for, politicians and their parties and lobby them at the same time or soon afterwards. Click here to see Backgrounder.

MPs on the Committee (except the NDP MP) support the gutting of these rules, and all MPs on the Committee also want loopholes added to other rules proposed by Commissioner Bélanger so that it will effectively be legal for lobbyists to use gifts, hospitality and “sponsored travel” as unethical ways of influencing MPs.

The Globe and Mail’s editorial board in an editorial, and then another editorial, and a coalition of 26 citizen groups with 1.5 million total supporters, and 41 lawyers and professors (many of them leading experts in government ethics), and 20,000+ voters, all oppose the Commissioner’s proposed changes, and the Committee’s call for loopholes to be added to the gift rules, because gutting these key ethical lobbying rules violates Canadians’ Charter rights to integrity and equal opportunity to participate in policy-making processes. Click here for details about the groups, lawyers, professors and voters.

“A total of 26 citizen groups supported by more than one-and-a-half million Canadians, 41 lawyers and professors from across Canada, and more than 20,000 voters oppose the Commissioner of Lobbying’s attempt to gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to lobby Cabinet ministers and MPs soon after campaigning, fundraising or doing favours for them, and so the House Ethics Committee should reverse its position and loudly and clearly reject the Commissioner’s unethical proposals,” said Conacher. “The Commissioner’s proposed unethical changes are based on one secret opinion that she commissioned from one law firm through a sole-source contract, an opinion she refuses to make public, which makes her proposed changes even more questionable.”

“It’s shocking that MPs on the Ethics Committee would call for loopholes to allow lobbyists to buy them off, essentially bribe them, with fundraising, favours, trips, gifts and wining and dining worth thousands of dollars each year,” said Conacher. “The changes that the Ethics Committee wants are deeply unethical and will allow for corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and politicians.”

– 30 –

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 Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Money in Politics Campaign

The Globe and Mail and 26 groups with 1.5 million+ supporters also oppose the Commissioner’s proposed gutting of the rules, as do 20,000+ petition signers

Commissioner’s proposed new Lobbyists’ Code would allow lobbyists to lobby politicians while secretly fundraising or campaigning for them

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 6, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released the open letter signed by 41 lawyers and law, politics and ethics professors from across Canada calling on the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc MPs on the House of Commons Ethics Committee to reverse their position and instead reject some of Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger’s proposed changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct because the changes will gut key federal ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to do significant campaigning for, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for, politicians and their parties and lobby them at the same time or soon afterwards. (Click here to see the letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français).

The letter also calls on all MPs on the Committee to reverse their position and accept other rules proposed by Commissioner Bélanger that, unlike the fundraising and campaigning rules, will effectively make it illegal for lobbyists to use gifts, hospitality and “sponsored travel” as unethical ways of influencing MPs.

“The Commissioner’s proposed unethical changes are based on one secret opinion that she commissioned from one law firm through a sole-source contract, an opinion she refuses to make public, which makes her proposed changes even more questionable,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “More than 40 lawyers and professors from across Canada, and 26 citizen groups supported by more than one-and-a-half million Canadians, oppose the Commissioner of Lobbying’s attempt to gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to lobby Cabinet ministers and MPs soon after campaigning or fundraising for them, and the House Ethics Committee should reverse its position and loudly and clearly reject the Commissioner’s unethical proposals.”

“It’s shocking that MPs on the Ethics Committee would call for loopholes to allow lobbyists to buy them off, essentially bribe them, with fundraising, favours, trips, gifts and wining and dining worth thousands of dollars each year,” said Conacher. “The changes that the Ethics Committee wants are deeply unethical and will allow for corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and politicians.”

The letter is signed by 15 lawyers from 7 law firms (and also lawyers in private practice or other roles), and 26 law, politics and ethics professors from 15 universities in 9 provinces.

In the current Lobbyists’ Code, Rules 6 and 9 and a guideline Commissioner Bélanger has issued for Rule 9 prohibit lobbying for 4 years (a “full election cycle” i.e. until after the next election) after a person does any significant campaigning or event organizing, or any fundraising, for a politician or party.

Commissioner Bélanger proposes a new Rule 6 that, depending on the level of campaigning or fundraising the lobbyist does, allows lobbying right afterwards or only 1-2 years later. The Commissioner also proposes to give herself the power to secretly reduce those prohibition periods. Click here to see the Backgrounder.

The Commissioner’s proposed changes are based on a very questionable, secret opinion that the Commissioner refuses to make public. The Commissioner paid law firm Goldblatt Partners for the opinion in a sole-source contract that was extended twice, increasing from $11,300 to $45,200 and then up to $90,400.

The Commissioner also sent a March 3rd letter that misled the Committee about the effects of the changes, and big business and big union lobbyists also misled the Committee when they testified about the changes.

Several Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings have clearly stated that Charter rights can be restricted to protect government integrity, the lawyers and professors state in the open letter that a minimum 4-year prohibition on lobbying after significant political activities, or any fundraising, is a reasonable limit that is clearly compliant with the Charter, and is necessary to protect integrity in government and policy-making.

After meeting in secret three times (Feb. 17, Mar. 7 and 21), the Ethics Committee approved the Commissioner’s proposed changes (other than the NDP opposing the reduction of the lobbying prohibition after campaigning/fundraising) in a letter sent to the Commissioner.

In the Committee’s letter, MPs from all parties also call on the Commissioner to create a loophole in the proposed gift and hospitality rules (Rules 3-4) to allow lobbyists to continue to give the unethical gift of “sponsored travel” to MPs and their families, and also to increase the proposed annual limit on gifts from lobbyists to $200 and on hospitality also to $200.

The letter from the 41 lawyers and professors, many of them leading experts in government ethics, also calls on the Committee to reverse their position on these proposed changes. If MPs want to take these trips that usually cost thousands of dollars, then they can pay for them out of their office budget or Parliament’s funds, and they can also pay for their own meals, drinks, receptions and other events from their office expense accounts.

As well, the Globe and Mail editorial board, and a total of 26 citizen groups with a total membership of 1.5 million Canadians also call on the Committee to reject the changes because they will gut ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow secret, corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and federal politicians. Click here to see the list of the 26 groups and other details.

In addition, more than 20,000 voters signed on to Democracy Watch’s petition on Change.org or its letter-writing campaign and sent emails to the Commissioner calling on her to stop gutting the Code, and also calling on federal party leaders and the Ethics Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed Code changes, and to make other key changes to stop all secret, unethical lobbying.

Commissioner Bélanger and the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc MPs on the Ethics Committee are proposing to gut key ethical rules in the Lobbyists’ Code and allow lobbyists under a proposed new Rule 6:

1. To secretly campaign up to near-full-time, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money, for politicians and parties and then lobby them essentially right afterwards (as long as the campaigning/fundraising is done without frequent, extensive interaction with a candidate or party official – the current lobbying prohibition time period after these activities is at least 4 years);
2. To secretly be a second-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 1 year (i.e. before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is 4 years);
3. To secretly be a top-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 2 years (i.e. also before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is 4 years);

and not only can all of this campaigning and fundraising be done in secret by lobbyists, but also the Commissioner is proposing to give herself the power to secretly reduce a lobbyist’s 1-2 year lobbying prohibition down to an even shorter time period.

Under the current Code and Rule 9 guideline, and under the proposal the lawyers and professors set out in the open letter, if a person only makes a donation, volunteers a bit on a campaign, attends a fundraising event or puts an election sign on their lawn, they are not, and should not be, prohibited from lobbying for any time period, because many voters engage in these same low-level political activities.

– 30 –

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 Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Money in Politics Campaign

Public has right to know terms of Johnston’s contract, especially whether it includes conflict of interest rules, and his pay

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, April 3, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on David Johnston and Prime Minister Trudeau to disclose Johnston’s sole-source contract and pay for being Trudeau’s Special Rapporteur on foreign interference in Canadian politics.

No one should call Mr. Johnston the “Independent Special Rapporteur” because he is not independent in any way from Prime Minister Trudeau – he was chosen by Trudeau; serves at his pleasure; has no job security, and; has no powers under any statute or regulation to investigate anything.

While Mr. Johnston’s mandate was made public on March 21, the actual terms of his contract and pay have not been disclosed.

The federal government’s database of contracts worth more than $10,000 does not contain any contracts between the government and David Johnston.

Given his relationship with Trudeau, a key question is whether Johnston’s contract contains any conflict of interest rules?

“As with all government spending, especially on consultants, the public has a right to know the details of David Johnston’s contract including his pay,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch.

Democracy Watch has also filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Canada Elections calling for an investigation of foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections, and has also called for several changes to the interference Protocol as well as changes to other key laws to prevent foreign interference.

– 30 –

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 Bad Government Appointments Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Open Government Campaign

All but NDP approve of Commissioner’s proposed new Lobbyists’ Code that will corrupt policy-making by allowing lobbyists to lobby politicians and party leaders soon after secretly fundraising or campaigning for them

MPs from all parties on House Ethics Committee also want other “legalized bribery” loopholes – call for changes to continue allowing “sponsored travel” gift, and to increase value of other gifts/hospitality, from lobbyists

26 citizen groups, 32 lawyers and professors, and Globe and Mail oppose the proposed gutting of the rules, as do 20,000+ petition signers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, March 27, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on the House of Commons Ethics Committee to reverse the position it has taken (other than the NDP) in a March 20th letter sent to Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger.

In the letter (pages 4-5), the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc MPs on the Committee approve of the Commissioner’s proposed changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct that will gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to secretly campaign and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for politicians and parties and lobby them at the same time or only 1-2 years after. (Click here to see the Committee’s letter in English (pages 4-5); Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français (pages 4-5)).

Current Code Rules 6 and 9 and a guideline Commissioner Bélanger has issued for Rule 9 prohibit lobbying for at least 4 years (a “full election cycle” i.e. until after the next election) after anyone does any significant campaigning or event organizing, or any fundraising, for a politician or party as a paid campaign staff person or as a volunteer, with no exceptions based on the time they spend doing these activities or their level of interaction with candidates or party officials while doing the activities.

“It’s shameful that the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc MPs on the Ethics Committee have decided, behind closed doors, to support changes that will gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that essentially try to legalize bribery by allowing for favour-trading between lobbyists and politicians that will corrupt federal policy-making processes,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch, which coordinates a coalition of 26 groups that oppose the changes. “The NDP has said it opposes the changes, but is it going to do anything more to try to stop the changes, like introducing a resolution in the House opposing the changes that dares MPs from other parties to publicly approve them?”

“If the Commissioner of Lobbying goes ahead with her proposed changes gutting key federal ethical lobbying rules, Democracy Watch will file a lawsuit challenging the new rules as they will violate voters’ constitutional democracy rights to government integrity, equal participation in policy-making processes, and adequate information to make voting decisions,” said Conacher.

In the Ethics Committee’s letter (pages 1-4), MPs from all parties also say they want Commissioner Bélanger to add other legalized bribery loopholes to her proposed rules on gifts and hospitality. The Committee wants a loophole so lobbyists can continue to give “sponsored travel” junket trips to MPs and their family members and associates, and wants to increase the annual limit on gifts from a lobbyist to $200, and on hospitality (wining and dining) also to $200.

“It’s shocking that MPs on the Ethics Committee would call for loopholes to allow lobbyists to buy them off, essentially bribe them, with fundraising, favours, trips, gifts and wining and dining worth thousands of dollars each year,” said Conacher. “The changes that the Ethics Committee wants are deeply unethical and will allow for corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and politicians.”

The Commissioner sent a March 3rd letter that misled the Committee about the effects of the changes, and big business and big union lobbyists also misled the Committee when they testified about the changes.

Recently, the Globe and Mail’s editorial board joined Democracy Watch and 25 other citizen groups with a total membership of 1.5 million Canadians in calling on the Committee to reject key changes to the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger because the changes will gut ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow secret, corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and federal politicians. Click here to see the list of the 26 groups and other details.

More than 20,000 voters signed on to Democracy Watch’s petition on Change.org or its letter-writing campaign and sent emails to the Commissioner calling on her to stop gutting the Code, and also calling on federal party leaders and the Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed Code changes, and to make other key changes to stop all secret, unethical lobbying.

As well, in an open letter sent to the Ethics Committee, 11 lawyers from 4 law firms (and also lawyers in private practice or other roles), and 21 law and political science professors from 14 universities in 8 provinces joined in calling on the Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed changes, and also to reject the Commissioner’s claim (which is based on a secret opinion from one law firm) that the current 4-year lobbying prohibition violates the Charter. (Click here to see the letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français). Several Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings have clearly stated that Charter rights can be restricted to protect government integrity.

– 30 –

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 Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Money in Politics Campaign

Commissioner’s proposed new Lobbyists’ Code would allow lobbyists to lobby politicians while secretly fundraising or campaigning for them

26 groups with 1.5 million+ supporters, and 32 lawyers and professors, oppose the proposed gutting of the rules, as do 20,000+ petition signers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, March 21, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released the letter it sent to the House of Commons Ethics Committee responding to the letter that Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger sent for the Committee’s ongoing secret meetings on Commissioner’s proposed changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct that will gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to do significant campaigning for, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for, politicians and their parties and lobby them at the same time or soon afterwards. (Click here to see the Commissioner’s letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français).

Democracy Watch’s letter is about very questionable claims made in the Commissioner’s letter, key dangerous effects of the Commissioner’s proposed changes to the Code that the Committee has not really considered so far, and false claims made by big business and big union lobbyists when they testified before the Committee about the proposed changes (Click here to see Democracy Watch’s letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français).

The Ethics Committee is holding its third meeting in secret this afternoon to decide what position it is going to take on the Commissioner’s proposed changes. Last week, the Globe and Mail called for the Commissioner’s proposals to be rejected.

“More than 30 lawyers and professors from across Canada, and 26 citizen groups supported by more than one-and-a-half million Canadians, oppose the Commissioner of Lobbying’s attempt to gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to lobby Cabinet ministers and MPs while campaigning or fundraising for them or soon afterwards, and the House Ethics Committee should join in loudly and clearly rejecting the Commissioner’s unethical proposals,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “The Commissioner’s proposed unethical changes are based on one secret opinion that she commissioned from one law firm through a sole-source contract, an opinion she refuses to make public, which makes her proposed changes even more questionable.”

“MPs on the Ethics Committee should not allow themselves to be misled by the Commissioner or by the false claims that big business and big union lobbyists have made about the proposed changes that will gut key ethical lobbying rules,” said Conacher.

The Commissioner’s letter makes it clear that the Committee was misled by big business and big union lobbyists when they testified, as they made the false claim that the proposed changes would prohibit “everyone” including low-level campaign volunteers, from lobbying for one year. (Click here and see Key Facts #20-24; Cliquez ici pour voir Principaux faits #20-24).

In fact, current Code Rules 6 and 9 and a guideline Commissioner Bélanger has issued for Rule 9 cover many more people than the proposed new rules. Those current rules prohibit lobbying for at least 4 years (a “full election cycle” i.e. until after the next election) after anyone does any top-level or second-level campaigning or event organizing, or any fundraising, for a politician or party as a paid campaign staff person or as a volunteer, with no exceptions based on the time they spend doing these activities or their level of interaction with candidates or party officials while doing the activities.

Commissioner Bélanger is proposing to gut current Code Rules 6 and 9 and allow lobbyists under a proposed new Rule 6:

1. To secretly campaign up to near-full-time, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money, for politicians and parties while lobbying them (as long as the campaigning/fundraising is done without frequent, extensive interaction with a candidate or party official – the current lobbying prohibition time period after these activities is at least 4 years);
2. To secretly be a second-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 1 year (i.e. before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is at least 4 years);
3. To secretly be a top-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 2 years (i.e. also before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is at least 4 years);

and not only can all of this campaigning and fundraising be done in secret by lobbyists, but also the Commissioner is proposing to give herself the power to secretly reduce a lobbyist’s 1-2 year lobbying prohibition down to an even shorter time period. (Click here and see Key Facts #25-33; Cliquez ici pour voir Principaux faits #25-33).

Democracy Watch and 25 other citizen groups with a total membership of 1.5 million Canadians call on the Committee to reject key changes to the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger because the changes will gut ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow secret, corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and federal politicians. Click here to see the list of the 26 groups and other details.

As well, in an open letter sent to the Ethics Committee, 11 lawyers from 4 law firms (and also lawyers in private practice or other roles), and 21 law and political science professors from 14 universities in 8 provinces joined in calling on the Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed changes, and also to reject the Commissioner’s claim that the current 4-year lobbying prohibition violates the Charter. (Click here to see the letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français). Several Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings have clearly stated that Charter rights can be restricted to protect government integrity.

The Commissioner’s claim that the current 4-year lobbying prohibition violating the Charter is based on only one secret opinion (which the Commissioner refuses to make public) that the Commissioner paid law firm Goldblatt Partners for in a sole-source contract that was extended twice, increasing from $11,300 to $45,200 and then up to $90,400.

Under the current Code and Rule 9 guideline, and under the proposal the lawyers and professors set out in the open letter, if a person only makes a donation, volunteers a bit on a campaign, attends a fundraising event or puts an election sign on their lawn, they are not, and should not be, prohibited from lobbying for any time period, because many voters engage in these same low-level political activities.

As well, Commissioner Bélanger misleadingly claimed on her website that she received only 206 letters from voters opposing her proposed Code changes – in fact, more than 20,000 voters signed on to Democracy Watch’s petition on Change.org or its letter-writing campaign and sent emails to the Commissioner calling on her to stop gutting the Code, and also calling on federal party leaders and the House Ethics Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed Code changes, and to make other key changes to stop all secret, unethical lobbying.

– 30 –

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 Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Money in Politics Campaign

Commissioner’s proposed new Lobbyists’ Code would allow lobbyists to lobby politicians while secretly fundraising or campaigning for them

26 groups with 1.5 million+ supporters also oppose the Commissioner’s proposed gutting of the rules, as do 20,000+ petition signers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, March 6, 2023

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released the open letter signed by 32 lawyers and law and political science professors from across Canada calling on the House of Commons Ethics Committee to reject some of Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger’s proposed changes to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct because the changes will gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to do significant campaigning for, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for, politicians and their parties and lobby them at the same time or soon afterwards. (Click here to see the letter in English; Cliquez ici pour voir la lettre en français).

The Ethics Committee is meeting in secret Tuesday, March 7 in the afternoon to decide what position it is going to take on the Commissioner’s proposed changes.

The open letter is signed by 11 lawyers from 4 law firms (and also lawyers in private practice or other roles), and 21 law and political science professors from 14 universities in 8 provinces.

A total of 26 citizen groups with a total membership of 1.5 million Canadians also call on the Committee to reject key changes to the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger because the changes will gut ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow secret, corrupt favour-trading between lobbyists and federal politicians. Click here to see the list of the 26 groups and other details.

As well, Commissioner Bélanger misleadingly claimed on her website that she received only 206 letters from voters opposing her proposed Code changes – in fact, more than 20,000 voters signed on to Democracy Watch’s petition on Change.org or its letter-writing campaign and sent emails to the Commissioner calling on her to stop gutting the Code, and also calling on federal party leaders and the House Ethics Committee to reject the Commissioner’s proposed Code changes, and to make other key changes to stop all secret, unethical lobbying.

“More than 30 lawyers and professors from across Canada, and 26 citizen groups supported by more than one-and-a-half million Canadians, oppose the Commissioner of Lobbying’s attempt to gut key ethical lobbying rules in ways that will allow lobbyists to lobby Cabinet ministers and MPs while campaigning or fundraising for them or soon afterwards, and the House Ethics Committee should join in loudly and clearly rejecting the Commissioner’s unethical proposals,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “The Commissioner’s proposed unethical changes are based on one secret opinion that she commissioned from one law firm through a sole-source contract, an opinion she refuses to make public, which makes her proposed changes even more questionable.”

In the current Code, Rules 6 and 9 and a guideline Commissioner Bélanger has issued for Rule 9 prohibit lobbying for 4 years (a “full election cycle” i.e. until after the next election) after a person does any significant campaigning or event organizing, or any fundraising, for a politician or party.

Commissioner Bélanger is proposing to gut these rules in the Code and allow lobbyists under a proposed new Rule 6:

1. To secretly campaign up to near-full-time, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money, for politicians and parties while lobbying them;
2. To secretly be a second-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 1 year (i.e. before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is 4 years);
3. To secretly be a top-level, full-time campaign staff person or fundraiser for a politician and/or party and then only be prohibited from lobbying them for 2 years (i.e. also before the next election – the current lobbying prohibition time period is 4 years);

and not only can all of this campaigning and fundraising be done in secret by lobbyists, but also the Commissioner is proposing to give herself the power to secretly reduce a lobbyist’s 1-2 year lobbying prohibition down to an even shorter time period.

Commissioner Bélanger has made the very questionable claim that the current 4-year cooling-off period violates the Charter rights to freedom of expression and assembly, based on one secret opinion that the Commissioner paid law firm Goldblatt Partners for in a sole-source contract that was extended twice, increasing from $11,300 to $45,200 and then up to $90,400. Democracy Watch is asking the Ethics Committee to force the Commissioner to make the Goldblatt opinion public.

Given several Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings have clearly stated that Charter rights must be restricted to protect government integrity, the lawyers and professors state in the open letter that a minimum 4-year prohibition on lobbying after significant political activities, or any fundraising, is a reasonable limit that is clearly compliant with the Charter, and is necessary to protect integrity in government and policy-making. The letter also calls for a rule that prohibits reducing that cooling-off period.

Under the current Code and Rule 9 guideline, and under the proposal the lawyers and professors set out in the open letter, if a person only makes a donation, volunteers a bit on a campaign, attends a fundraising event or puts an election sign on their lawn, they are not, and should not be, prohibited from lobbying for any time period, because many voters engage in these same low-level political activities.

Very unfortunately, several stakeholders have made inaccurate claims that the Commissioner’s proposed changes to the Code would mean people who do this low-level campaigning or volunteering for a candidate or political party would be prohibited from lobbying for one year afterwards. In fact, only people who campaign for 30 hours or more a week, or who have frequent, in-depth interaction with the candidate or party officials, will be prohibited from lobbying for one year afterwards (Click here and see Key Facts #20-24; Cliquez ici pour voir Principaux faits #20-24).

As detailed above, the actual undemocratic danger of the Commissioner’s proposed changes are that they will allow lobbyists to do significant campaigning for, and fundraise unlimited amounts of money for, politicians and their parties and lobby them at the same time or soon afterwards (Click here and see Key Facts #25-33; Cliquez ici pour voir Principaux faits #25-33).

– 30 –

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 Secret, Unethical Lobbying Campaign and Government Ethics Campaign and Money in Politics Campaign