Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
I am calling on governments across Canada to end secret, unethical lobbying and unethical decision-making in politics through implementing the following measures which are supported by the Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 32 citizen groups from across Canada representing over 3 million Canadians:
- pass a law requiring all government consultation processes to provide meaningful opportunities for citizen participation, so that the influence of lobbyists is decreased;
Make ethics rules stronger by:
- adding a requirement to the ethics law or code that all politicians, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials (including in municipal governments) be honest at all times, including when they are speaking in the legislature or in committee;
- adding a requirement that all these people disclose all assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, and in most cases sell significant investments and financial interests they (and their spouses and dependents) own or, if they do not sell them, prohibit them from taking part in discussions or votes on all matters (general and specific) in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest;
- adding a requirement that these people also disclose all work they have done in the five years before they began their public office job (including as a director of any type of organization) to ensure that it is easy to track whether they use their public official position to help private businesses or organizations that they have ties with through their past work;
- specifically, prohibiting these people also from taking part in discussions or votes on matters in which they have an apparent conflict of interest, even if they don’t have a direct financial interest, and delete the exemption that is currently in the definition of “private interest” in every political ethics law and code across Canada that states that no one can be in a conflict of interest if they are dealing with a “general application” matter or matter that affects a “broad class of persons” (because this exemption means the law/code does not apply to 99% of the decisions made);
- requiring politicians, their staff, and all public officials to work a set minimum number of hours each week, with their required duties clearly defined, along with allowed and prohibited outside activities, all disclosed in an online searchable database, including any pay received over $1,000 for outside activities (and speaking to groups and any other appearance at any event should be something all politicians are required to do for free because their role is to be a representative of government to the broader community, and they receive a substantial benefit by speaking at such events of the opportunity to connect with voters and promote themselves and their political party);
- increasing the post-public service restriction on taking a job with a person, company or organization that you had significant dealings with while in office to 3 years for Cabinet ministers, and to 2 years for Cabinet staff and senior government officials and opposition party leaders and critics, and to 1 year for backbench politicians, to help ensure that companies and organizations can’t offer jobs as a payoff to politicians and officials for what they did while in office;
- increasing the post-public service lobbying restriction for Cabinet ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and senior government officials to 3-5 years (depending on the decision-making power of the person), and for backbench politicians and senators and their staff, and junior government officials and employees to 1-4 years depending on their decision-making powers (to help close the revolving door through which these people sell their expertise and inside knowledge to private interests when they retire, are defeated in an election, or leave their position for another reason);
- requiring all these people to report their post-public service activities to the ethics enforcement agency during the cooling-off period to ensure they are complying with the rules;
- prohibit all these people from accepting sponsored travel (and delete any exemptions that allow for this unethical gift); and
- enacting a general anti-avoidance provision in all ethics rules to prevent people from exploiting any loopholes.
Ensure lobbying activities are tracked and the undue influence of lobbyists is restricted by ensuring that the lobbying law:
- requires Ministers, their staff, Cabinet appointees and other senior government officials, members of the legislature and senators and all their staff to disclose all their contacts in an online, searchable database with anyone who communicates with them in any way about their decisions;
- requires lobbyists to disclose how much they and their clients are spending on their campaigns (as required in 33 U.S. states);
- requires lobbyists to disclose past work with political parties, candidates for federal public office and governments;
- prohibits lobbyists from serving in senior positions for political parties and candidates (as prohibited by the federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, and by laws in Maryland and New Mexico);
- prohibits lobbyists from doing work for government departments (such as providing advice on communications) and from having any business connections with anyone who does such work, and;
- eliminate the corporate tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
And ensure ethics laws/codes/rules are effectively enforced by:
- ensuring a “whistleblower” protection law exists that gives anyone the right to reports a violation of any law, policy, code, guideline etc. to a fully independent integrity commissioner who has the power and resources to fully investigate complaints, and to protect all whistleblowers from retaliation and to compensate them fully if they suffer retaliation;
- as Ontario has for appointing provincial court judges, create an independent commission to conduct open, merit-based searches for Cabinet appointments, and to require the Cabinet to choose from a short list of candidates the commission proposes, and require approval from opposition party leaders of the appointment of all ethics, integrity or lobbying commissioners;
- appoint all ethics, integrity and lobbying commissioners, and all government watchdogs, for fixed, multi-year, non-renewable terms with full independence and investigative powers;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to conduct regular, unannounced audits of the activities of the people who are covered by the law they enforce, to ensure everyone is complying with the rules;
- requiring all integrity, ethics and lobbying commissioners to review complaints filed by the public, and rule publicly on every complaint;
- requiring the commissioners to issue a ruling every time they give advice to anyone on how the law/code rules apply to specific situations;
- allowing complainants to go to court if the integrity, ethics or lobbying commissioner delays an investigation an unreasonable length of time, or makes any legal or factual error in a ruling; and
- increase penalties for violations of any ethics law or code to match the current penalties for violating the federal Lobbying Act (ie. $50,000 to $200,000 fines and jail terms of 6 months to 2 years), and loss of any severance payment, and a partial clawback of their pension payments.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.