(English) Dear Auditor General:
I am writing to request that you audit the records of federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson and federal Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd.
In 2010, the Auditor General audited the negligently weak record of the federal Integrity Commissioner, and she was held accountable for her poor record. The Ethics Commissioner’s and Lobbying Commissioner’s records are just as bad as the Integrity Commissioner’s record was.
As Democracy Watch has detailed in letters sent to you on November 23rd and November 30th requesting these audits:
- Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson doesn’t do any audits of polticians and officials activities so likely only 5% of violators are caught;
- Since 2007, Ethics Commissioner Dawson has decided not to penalize 76 of 88 people (86%) she has investigated for violating the COIA or MPs Code (and she has let another 218 people off in secret rulings – so overall only 4.7% have been found guilty);
- Ethics Commissioner Dawson has not found a Liberal guilty since the Liberals were elected in October 2015 despite many clear violations;
- Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd doesn’t do any audits to find unregistered communications with government institutions and officials — so likely only 5% of violators are caught;
- Since 2007, Commissioner Dawson, RCMP and Crown prosecutors have decided not to penalize 88 of the 105 lobbyists (84%) who they have caught violating the Act and Code (and they have kept the identity of the 88 violators secret);
- Commissioner Dawson has taken three or more years to issue a ruling on one-third of the situations she has investigated since 2008
- Commissioner Dawson has not issued a public ruling since the Liberals were elected in October 2015 despite receiving many complaints, and;
- Since June 2016, the Trudeau Cabinet has handed both Ethics Commissioner Dawson and Lobbying Commissioner Shepherd 3 six-month renewable contracts worth $100,000 each, so they have both been serving essentially at the pleasure of the Trudeau Cabinet since then.
There is ample evidence that the enforcement records of Ethics Commissioner Dawson and Lobbying Commissioner Shepherd are negligently weak. Only a performance audit by your office will reveal why their records are so bad.
I support Democracy Watch’s call for an audit of Ethics Commissioner Dawson and Lobbying Commissioner Shepherd. Please let me know if you will undertake such an audit.
