As controversy swirls over severance payments made inside Premier Alison Redford’s office, the Tory government vows it will soon publish a “sunshine list” disclosing salaries and severance for all its senior officials.

The countdown is underway. And unless Premier Pauline Marois aborts the mission at the last minute, she will launch a general-election campaign on Nov. 6.

Winnipeg MP Pat Martin should return the money donated by organized labour to cushion the financial blow he suffered when he settled a $5-million defamation claim with an Edmonton company, a Canadian ethics expert says.

OTTAWA — The NDP’s union friends have come to the rescue of Manitoba MP Pat Martin as he faces expenses from a $5-million defamation lawsuit, but Canadians may never know how much money he raised from them.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi defended his council’s commitment to transparency following recent concerns over the amount of time politicians spend debating public business behind closed doors.

OTTAWA—Kevin McCarthy, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s chief of staff and one-time chief policy adviser on the banking sector, is leaving the federal government to go to a new job at Scotiabank, the Star has learned.

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Letter to the Editor by Democracy Watch Board Member Duff Conacher published in the Globe and Mail

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Dear Editor,

Your article makes the inaccurate claim that the federal Conservatives’ 2006 Accountability Act prevents “federal officials from lobbying the government for up to five years after their retirement . . .” (PM’s former Quebec adviser hired by lobbying firm – Sept. 4).

In fact, because of huge loopholes in the federal Lobbying Act and Conflict of Interest Act and codes, Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees, MPs and senators and their staff are all allowed to lobby the government the same day they retire or resign.

Under rules that have existed since 1986, Cabinet ministers for two years, and senior government officials for one year, have be careful whom they lobby for, and whom they lobby — but they are allowed to start lobbying the day they leave government.

The Accountability Act did nothing to close the loopholes, and Treasury Board minister Tony Clement has failed to take any steps to implement the proposals made in a May 2012 House of Commons Ethics Committee report to close some (but unfortunately not all) of the loopholes.

Until these loopholes are closed, everyone involved in federal politics will continue to be free to cash in and sell their inside information and connections to the highest bidder as soon as they finish their so-called public service.

Sincerely,

Duff Conacher
Board Member of Democracy Watch
Director of GoodOrg.ca Consulting

Internet: http://goodorg.ca
Twitter: @DuffConacher

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Democracy Watch’s Government Ethics Campaign

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch launched a national petition on Change.org calling for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to open Parliament on September 16th, as scheduled, and for all parties to work together to pass laws restricting the use of prorogation.

“The shut down by Prime Minister Stephen Harper until October of this year, past prorogations by Prime Minister Harper and Prime Minister Chretien and some premiers, and the recent shutdowns of provincial legislatures by B.C. Premier Christy Clark, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale, and former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty make it clear that new rules are needed across Canada to ensure fairness and democratic accountability in the opening and shutting down of legislatures,” said Tyler Sommers, Coordinator of Democracy Watch.

In early 2010, more than 220,000 Canadians joined a Facebook group against the prorogation of the federal Parliament by Prime Minister Harper, and more than 20,000 protested in demonstrations across the country, but federal opposition parties failed to respond to this broad-based call to work together during the minority government situation to change the Parliament of Canada Act to set rules on the opening and closing of Parliament.

In most countries in the world, including the parliamentary democracies of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the constitution or written constitutional conventions or laws govern when the legislature opens and closes, not the whims of the ruling party leader.  A survey of more than 2,000 Canadians commissioned by Your Canada, Your Constitution in December 2012 showed that 84% want such clear, written rules established in Canada, enforced by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Democracy Watch is calling on Canadians to sign the petition calling for Prime Minister Harper to open Parliament as scheduled and for federal politicians to pass a clear and specific law regarding prorogations including the following:

1. only allowing the Prime Minister alone to prorogue when the legislature is already adjourned, and only for the adjournment time period.
2. requiring approval of 2/3 of MPs in the House of Commons before a prorogation can happen when the House is open.
3. limiting the length of prorogation to a maximum of 2 weeks.
4. requiring that the legislature be opened within 30 days after each election.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Tyler Sommers, Coordinator of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
[email protected]

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Democracy Watch’s Change.Org Petition

Edmonton MLA Peter Sandhu aggressively lobbied ministers and department officials for changes to a provincial law which would benefit his financially troubled home-building company.

Link to NOW magazine article