{"id":11165,"date":"2019-11-27T08:37:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T13:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/?p=11165"},"modified":"2025-05-25T07:19:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:19:00","slug":"democracy-watch-calls-on-ontario-integrity-commissioner-to-update-premier-fords-financial-interests-disclosure-and-to-impose-special-measures-to-ensure-the-premier-doesnt-help-his-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/democracy-watch-calls-on-ontario-integrity-commissioner-to-update-premier-fords-financial-interests-disclosure-and-to-impose-special-measures-to-ensure-the-premier-doesnt-help-his-f\/","title":{"rendered":"Democracy Watch calls on Ontario Integrity Commissioner to update Premier Ford\u2019s financial interests disclosure, and to impose special measures to ensure the Premier doesn\u2019t help his family companiesDemocracy Watch calls on Ontario Integrity Commissioner to update Premier Ford\u2019s financial interests disclosure, and to impose special measures to ensure the Premier doesn\u2019t help his family companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

So-called \u201cblind\u201d trust is a sham as Premier Ford still knows he owns the companies, and he tried to help clients of his family company when he was a Toronto city councilor \u2013 strong fairness monitor and regular audits needed<\/span><\/h3>\n

DWatch also calls on Commissioner to issue public guidelines for key ethics rules, and to recommend strongly that key, unethical loopholes be closed<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<\/b>
Wednesday, November 27, 2019<\/p>\n\n

OTTAWA \u2013 Today, Democracy Watch released the letter<\/a> it sent to Ontario Integrity Commissioner David Wake calling on him to update Premier Ford\u2019s financial interests disclosure statement immediately, and also impose further conditions on his trust for his family business, and call for key changes to close huge loopholes in the province government\u2019s ethics law.<\/p>\n\n

According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail<\/em><\/a>, Premier Ford\u2019s family company changed its name to Deco Flexible Packaging Ltd. on August 9, 2019. As well, Premier Ford\u2019s June 7, 2018 Public Disclosure Statement<\/a> says that he was earning a salary from Deco Adhesive Products (1985) Limited, and from Deco Labels & Tags Ltd.<\/p>\n\n

The Premier is required by subsection 20(4) of the Members\u2019 Integrity Act<\/em> to update the Integrity Commissioner within 30 days after a change in his and his spouse\u2019s and dependants\u2019 financial interests, and the Integrity Commissioner is responsible for preparing and posting MPPs\u2019 statements in the Public Registry<\/a>. Accurate statements are key for government officials, the public and the media to be able to monitor for conflicts of interests.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPremier Ford\u2019s financial interests statement says he is receiving a salary from family businesses under their old company names, and if he failed to update the Integrity Commissioner about the name and any salary changes he should be found guilty of violating the provincial government\u2019s ethics law,\u201d<\/em> said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. \u201cIf Premier Ford did update the Integrity Commissioner about the name change and any salary changes, then the Integrity Commissioner should have updated Premier Ford\u2019s statement immediately.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s letter also calls on Commissioner Wake to use his powers under the Members\u2019 Integrity Act<\/em> (\u201cAct\u201d<\/em>) to require Premier Ford to do much more than set up a so-called \u201cblind\u201d trust for his family companies in order to prevent conflicts of interest. Under subsection 12(2)<\/a> of the Act<\/em> (referring to clause 11(3)(1)<\/a>), Commissioner Wake must approve the provisions of any trust to ensure it will actually prevent conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cA so-called blind trust for Premier Ford doesn\u2019t do anything to prevent him from helping his family companies because he knows that he owns the companies, and he receives updates from his family and trustee about the companies, and so the Integrity Commissioner must impose other strong enforcement measures to ensure Premier Ford and his family\u2019s companies and their clients don\u2019t profit from his or his Cabinet\u2019s decisions,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch called on Commissioner Wake to require a fairness monitor as part of the provisions of Premier Ford\u2019s trust for all government policy-making processes and transactions that directly or indirectly affect Premier Ford\u2019s family companies and\/or clients of the companies. Democracy Watch also called on Commissioner Wake, or the fairness monitor, to conduct regular audits of all communications of Premier Ford and staff in his office, to ensure they don\u2019t try to influence decisions to favour his companies or their clients.<\/p>\n\n

These measures are needed not only because Premier Ford\u2019s conflicts of interest won\u2019t be prevented without them, but also because Premier Ford was found guilty of violating Toronto\u2019s ethics code<\/a> for trying to help his company\u2019s clients when he was a councilor.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPremier Ford\u2019s past record of violating government ethics rules makes it clear that strict and strong extra measures are needed to ensure he doesn\u2019t try to profit from his decisions as premier,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s letter also calls on Commissioner Wake to confirm with a clear, strong, public statements that key rules set out in the Preamble<\/a> of the Act<\/em> are enforceable. The rules require all MPPs to perform their duties and arrange their private affairs \u201cin a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of each member\u201d and to \u201cto act with integrity and impartiality that will bear the closest scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Finally, Democracy Watch\u2019s letter calls on Commissioner Wake to issue a clear, strong, public statement calling on the Ontario legislature to change the Act<\/em> to ban so-called blind trusts because they are a charade (as the Parker Commission recommended in 1987<\/a>), and to close a huge loophole that means the Act<\/em> doesn\u2019t apply to 99% of the decisions of MPPs and allows them, the Premier and Cabinet ministers to take part in decisions even when they will profit from the decision.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cOntario\u2019s ethics law for politicians has huge loopholes that must be closed or it will continue to be almost impossible to be in a conflict of interest that violates the law,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

– 30 \u2013<\/p>\n

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:<\/strong>
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: info@democracywatch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s Government Ethics Campaign<\/a><\/p>\n\n

So-called \u201cblind\u201d trust is a sham as Premier Ford still knows he owns the companies, and he tried to help clients of his family company when he was a Toronto city councilor \u2013 strong fairness monitor and regular audits needed<\/span><\/h3>\n

DWatch also calls on Commissioner to issue public guidelines for key ethics rules, and to recommend strongly that key, unethical loopholes be closed<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<\/b>
Wednesday, November 27, 2019<\/p>\n\n

OTTAWA \u2013 Today, Democracy Watch released the letter<\/a> it sent to Ontario Integrity Commissioner David Wake calling on him to update Premier Ford\u2019s financial interests disclosure statement immediately, and also impose further conditions on his trust for his family business, and call for key changes to close huge loopholes in the province government\u2019s ethics law.<\/p>\n\n

According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail<\/em><\/a>, Premier Ford\u2019s family company changed its name to Deco Flexible Packaging Ltd. on August 9, 2019. As well, Premier Ford\u2019s June 7, 2018 Public Disclosure Statement<\/a> says that he was earning a salary from Deco Adhesive Products (1985) Limited, and from Deco Labels & Tags Ltd.<\/p>\n\n

The Premier is required by subsection 20(4) of the Members\u2019 Integrity Act<\/em> to update the Integrity Commissioner within 30 days after a change in his and his spouse\u2019s and dependants\u2019 financial interests, and the Integrity Commissioner is responsible for preparing and posting MPPs\u2019 statements in the Public Registry<\/a>. Accurate statements are key for government officials, the public and the media to be able to monitor for conflicts of interests.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPremier Ford\u2019s financial interests statement says he is receiving a salary from family businesses under their old company names, and if he failed to update the Integrity Commissioner about the name and any salary changes he should be found guilty of violating the provincial government\u2019s ethics law,\u201d<\/em> said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. \u201cIf Premier Ford did update the Integrity Commissioner about the name change and any salary changes, then the Integrity Commissioner should have updated Premier Ford\u2019s statement immediately.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s letter also calls on Commissioner Wake to use his powers under the Members\u2019 Integrity Act<\/em> (\u201cAct\u201d<\/em>) to require Premier Ford to do much more than set up a so-called \u201cblind\u201d trust for his family companies in order to prevent conflicts of interest. Under subsection 12(2)<\/a> of the Act<\/em> (referring to clause 11(3)(1)<\/a>), Commissioner Wake must approve the provisions of any trust to ensure it will actually prevent conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cA so-called blind trust for Premier Ford doesn\u2019t do anything to prevent him from helping his family companies because he knows that he owns the companies, and he receives updates from his family and trustee about the companies, and so the Integrity Commissioner must impose other strong enforcement measures to ensure Premier Ford and his family\u2019s companies and their clients don\u2019t profit from his or his Cabinet\u2019s decisions,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch called on Commissioner Wake to require a fairness monitor as part of the provisions of Premier Ford\u2019s trust for all government policy-making processes and transactions that directly or indirectly affect Premier Ford\u2019s family companies and\/or clients of the companies. Democracy Watch also called on Commissioner Wake, or the fairness monitor, to conduct regular audits of all communications of Premier Ford and staff in his office, to ensure they don\u2019t try to influence decisions to favour his companies or their clients.<\/p>\n\n

These measures are needed not only because Premier Ford\u2019s conflicts of interest won\u2019t be prevented without them, but also because Premier Ford was found guilty of violating Toronto\u2019s ethics code<\/a> for trying to help his company\u2019s clients when he was a councilor.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPremier Ford\u2019s past record of violating government ethics rules makes it clear that strict and strong extra measures are needed to ensure he doesn\u2019t try to profit from his decisions as premier,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s letter also calls on Commissioner Wake to confirm with a clear, strong, public statements that key rules set out in the Preamble<\/a> of the Act<\/em> are enforceable. The rules require all MPPs to perform their duties and arrange their private affairs \u201cin a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of each member\u201d and to \u201cto act with integrity and impartiality that will bear the closest scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Finally, Democracy Watch\u2019s letter calls on Commissioner Wake to issue a clear, strong, public statement calling on the Ontario legislature to change the Act<\/em> to ban so-called blind trusts because they are a charade (as the Parker Commission recommended in 1987<\/a>), and to close a huge loophole that means the Act<\/em> doesn\u2019t apply to 99% of the decisions of MPPs and allows them, the Premier and Cabinet ministers to take part in decisions even when they will profit from the decision.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cOntario\u2019s ethics law for politicians has huge loopholes that must be closed or it will continue to be almost impossible to be in a conflict of interest that violates the law,\u201d<\/em> said Conacher.<\/p>\n\n

– 30 \u2013<\/p>\n

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:<\/strong>
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: info@democracywatch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Democracy Watch\u2019s Government Ethics Campaign<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So-called \u201cblind\u201d trust is a sham as Premier Ford still knows he owns the companies, and he tried to help clients of his family company when he was a Toronto city councilor \u2013 strong fairness monitor and regular audits needed DWatch also calls on Commissioner to issue public guidelines for key ethics rules, and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11165"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18495,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165\/revisions\/18495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracywatch.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}