Despite high voter concern about democracy and trust, incredibly all parties fail to promise the many needed changes to have effective democracy, government ethics and accountability in Ontario
Voter turnout likely to drop to new record low of about 45% — many more would likely turn out if Elections Ontario informed voters that they have the right to decline their ballot
News Release
Monday, June 9, 2014
OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch released its Report Card on the 2014 Democratic Good Government Election Platforms of the five main Ontario political parties, the only election report card on these issues.
The Liberals and NDP tied with a “best” grade of E while the Greens and Progressive Conservatives made so few promises to clean up politics in Ontario that they received an Incomplete. A Dishonesty Downgrade of one full grade is also shown in the Report Card results — usually only half of all promises are kept because of the lack of an honesty-in-politics law which is needed to effectively penalize promise-breakers and misleaders.
“All the Ontario parties have failed to respond to high voter concern about democracy and trust issues, but voters focused on these issues should still come to the polls and at least exercise their legal right to decline their ballot and vote none of the above to show their concern,” said Duff Conacher, Founding Director of Democracy Watch and chairperson of its four nation-wide coalitions. “The party leaders should not be surprised by the lack of support they will receive from voters on election day. One can only hope that the parties will actually address these concerns when the legislature opens again so that everyone in Ontario politics will, finally after 147 years, be effectively required to act honestly, ethically, openly, representatively and to prevent waste.”
“None of the Ontario political parties seem to realize that every party that has made strong promises to clean up politics and government in the past 20 years across Canada has won more votes and seats, and elections,” said Conacher. “No one should be surprised if voter turnout drops to a new record low of about 45% because voting for a candidate is like recommending someone for a job, and given the lack of promises to clean up politics, most voters won’t feel motivated to recommend that any party form the next Ontario government.”
“The Green Party platform has the words ‘honesty’ and ‘integrity’ on the cover, but they made only two promises that won’t even do much to ensure honesty and integrity in provincial politics. In contrast, the federal Green Party in the 2011 election made extensive promises and received a grade of B- which was the highest grade for the Report Card that election and in part was why the Greens elected their first MP.“ said Conacher. “The Progressive Conservatives have complained a lot about lack of integrity in Ontario politics but they only made a couple of promises to cut spending and increase spending accountability a little bit. In contrast, the federal Conservatives made 60 democratic reform and government accountability promises in the 2006 federal election, and received the best grade in the Report Card for that election, which they won.”
The Report Card grades the four main parties’ platform pledges based upon 16 sets of key changes in five areas that Democracy Watch and its coalitions believe are the changes that will most effectively require everyone in the Ontario government to act honestly, ethically, openly, efficiently, representatively and, if they don’t act in these democratic ways, to be easily and thoroughly held accountable. In total, the 16 sets of changes add up to 100 key changes needed to the Ontario government’s democracy, ethics and accountability system.
The measures are a compilation of the proposals of the five nation-wide coalitions Democracy Watch coordinates (Government Ethics Coalition, Money in Politics Coalition, Open Government Coalition, Corporate Responsibility Coalition, Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition). A combined total of more than 140 citizen groups with a total membership of more than 3 million Canadians belong to the coalitions, groups that work on anti-poverty, bank accountability, community economic development, consumer, corporate responsibility, environment, labour, social justice, women and youth issues.
Many national surveys over the past several years have shown that a large majority of Canadians support the 100 democracy, ethics and government accountability reforms set out in the Report Card, as do many commentators on democratic reform. The federal government, and every province and territory and municipality across Canada, all have a similar list of 100 loopholes and flaws in their government systems (each with a slightly differect set of loopholes flaws, depending on which have been closed or corrected in the past).
The 16 sets of changes, divided into five areas, all reflect the following five key elements for ensuring that large, powerful government institutions act responsibly and follow rules: 1. strong laws with no loopholes; 2. requirement to disclose details of operations and violations; 3. fully independent, fully empowered watchdog agencies to enforce laws; 4. penalties that are high enough to encourage compliance; and 5. empowerment of citizens to hold governments and watchdog agencies accountable.
The parties were given a grade ranging from A (Platform makes clear promise to implement proposal) to I (Platform does not mention proposal), with grades B for a vague or partial promise to implement the proposal, C and D for clear to vague promises to explore the proposal, E for mentioning proposal and F for mentioning the theme of the proposal. Grades were averaged for each of the five sections, and the averages of section grades were used to calculate the overall grade for each party.
“Given the lack of a provincial honesty-in-politics law, and the lack of a clear pledge by any of the parties to pass such a law, voters should be wary of trusting any political promises,” said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch. “However, if they want their concerns addressed, voters should always turn up and at least exercise their legal right to decline their ballotto send a message to the parties.”
The 2014 Report Card is an updated version of the Report Cards issued by Democracy Watch during the 2011 and 2007 Ontario elections, and reflects changes that have occurred in Ontario laws since 2007.
Democracy Watch graded the parties’ election platforms by reviewing the platforms. Statements by party leaders or representatives were not taken into account as they are not fully accessible to all voters, nor are they binding in any way on the party (as admitted by many party leaders) and as a result are even less reliable than promises made in the parties’ platforms.
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
[email protected]
Report Card on the 2014 Democratic Good Government
Election Platforms of the Ontario Political Parties
(Set out below are quotations from the Ontario parties’ platform documents upon which the Report Card grades were based for each of the 16 sub-categories graded in the 5 issue areas categories)
GRADING SYSTEM
A – Platform makes clear promise to implement proposal
B – Platform makes vague or partial promise to implement proposal
C – Platform makes clear promise to explore proposal
D – Platform makes vague or partial promise to explore proposal
E – Platform mentions proposal
F – Platform mentions theme of proposal
I – Platform does not mention proposal
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario platform webpage
Green Party of Ontario platform webpage
Liberal Party of Ontario platform webpage
NDP of Ontario platform webpage
OVERALL REPORT CARD GRADES
best to worst
| Party | Grades | Dishonesty Downgrade* (one full grade) |
| Liberal Party |
E
|
F |
| New Democrat Party | E | F |
| Green Party | F | I |
| Progressive Conservative Party | F | I |
* Dishonesty Downgrade applied because past performance of all parties shows that they usually break half their promises, and the lack of an honesty-in-politics law means they can’t be held accountable.
| I. Honest, Ethical Government Measures Green Party – F Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I Progressive Conservative Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform Green Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform Liberal Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform New Democrat Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform 2. Strengthening ethics standards for politicians, political staff, Cabinet appointees and government employees, and ethics enforcement – Close the loopholes in the existing ethics rules (including closing the loophole that allows Cabinet ministers, MPPs, their staff and Cabinet appointees to be involved in decisions in which they have a financial interest, and including requiring resignation and a by-election if an MPP switches parties between elections) and apply them to all government institutions (including all Crown corporations), and as proposed by the federal Department of Finance place anyone with decision-making power on the anti-corruption watch list of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac) so deposits to their bank accounts can be tracked, and; strengthen the independence and effectiveness of all the newly created politician and government employee ethics watchdog positions (the Integrity Commissioner for Cabinet and MPPs and lobbyists, the Conflict of Interest Commissioner for government employees) by giving opposition party leaders a veto over appointees, having the legislature (as opposed to Cabinet) approve their annual budgets, prohibiting the watchdogs from giving secret advice, requiring them to investigate and rule publicly on all complaints (including anonymous complaints), fully empowering and requiring them to penalize rule-breakers, changing all the codes they enforce into laws, and ensuring that all their decisions can be reviewed by the courts. (Go to Government Ethics Campaignfor details about Democracy Watch’s proposals)Conservative Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in party platform Green Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in party platform Liberal Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform New Democrat Party – I – Nothing related to proposal in platform 3. Making the political donations and election spending system democratic – Prohibit secret, unlimited donations or gifts of money, property or services by anyone for any reason to nomination, election and party leadership candidates; limit donations to $200 annually from individuals, and bank donations from corporations, unions and other organizations; also limit loans, including from financial institutions, to parties and all types of candidates to the same level as donations are limited; establish $1 per vote public funding of political parties (50 cents per vote for parties that elect a higher percentage of MPPs than the percentage of voter support they receive, and; ensure riding associations receive a fair share of this per-vote funding (so that party headquarters don’t have undue control over riding associations); require disclosure of all donations, gifts and loans of money, property or services (including the identity of the donor’s employer (as in the U.S.) and major affiliations) quarterly and before any election day; limit spending on campaigns for the leadership of political parties; limit advertising spending by the government and opposition parties and third parties in the six-month period leading up to an election, and limit advertising spending by third parties during the election campaign period (as spending by parties and candidates is limited).. (Go to the Money in Politics Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – B- Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 4. Closing down the revolving door – Prohibit lobbyists from working for government departments or serving in senior positions for political parties or candidates for public office (as in New Mexico and Maryland), and from having business connections with anyone who does, and close the loopholes so that the actual cooling-off period for former Cabinet ministers, ministerial staff and senior public officials is five years (and three years for MPPs, senators, their staff, and government employees) during which they are prohibited from becoming a lobbyist or working with people, corporations or organizations with which they had direct dealings while in government. Make the Integrity Commissioner and Conflict of Interest Commissioner more independent and effective by by giving opposition party leaders a veto over their appointment, by having the legislature (as opposed to Cabinet) approve their annual budget, by prohibiting the Commissioners from giving secret advice, by requiring the Commissioners to investigate and rule publicly on all complaints (including anonymous complaints), and by fully empowering and requiring the Commissioners to penalize rule-breakers, by ensuring all decisions of the Commissioners can be reviewed by the courts. (Go to Government Ethics Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I II. Open Government Measures Green Party – I Liberal Party – E New Democrat Party – I Progressive Conservative Party – I Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – C New Democrat Party – I 6. Exposing behind-closed-door communications – Require in a new law that Ministers and public officials and MPPs and their staff disclose their contacts with all lobbyists, whether paid or volunteer lobbyists. (Go to Government Ethics Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 7. Strengthening lobbying disclosure and ethics, and the enforcement system – Strengthen the Lobbying Registration Act by including in it a Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, by closing the loophole that currently allows corporations to hide the number of people involved in lobbying activities, and by requiring lobbyists to disclose their past work with any Canadian or foreign government, political party or candidate, to disclose all their government relations activities (whether paid or volunteer) involving gathering inside information or trying to influence policy-makers (as in the U.S.) and to disclose the amount they spend on lobbying campaigns (as in 33 U.S. states), and; strengthen the ethics and enforcement system by extending the limitation period for prosecutions of violations of the Act to 10 years, and; by giving opposition party leaders a veto over the appointment of the Integrity Commissioner for lobbyists, by having the legislature (as opposed to Cabinet) approve the Commissioner’s annual budget, by prohibiting the Commissioner from giving secret advice, by requiring the Commissioner to investigate and rule publicly on all complaints (including anonymous complaints), by fully empowering and requiring the Commissioner to penalize rule-breakers, by ensuring all Commissioner decisions can be reviewed by the courts. (Go to Government Ethics Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I III. Efficient Government Measures Green Party – E Liberal Party – D New Democrat Party – C Progressive Conservative Party – D Conservative Party – C Green Party – I Liberal Party – C New Democrat Party – C 9. Restricting government and campaign advertising – Empower a government watchdog agency to preview and prohibit government advertising contracting out if there is no reason to have the advertising developed by a contractor, and to reject any government advertising that is essentially a partisan ad for the ruling party, and strictly limit all advertising spending by the government in the six-month period leading up to an election. (Go to the Stop Fraud Politician Spending Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – B- IV. Representative, Citizen-Driven Government Measures Green Party – I Liberal Party – E New Democrat Party – F Progressive Conservative Party – I Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – C New Democrat Party – E 11. Restricting power of Cabinet to make appointments – Require approval by opposition party leaders for the approximately 2,000 judicial, agency, board, commission and tribunal appointments currently made by the Premier, especially for appointees to senior and law enforcement positions, after a merit-based nomination and screening process. (Go to the Democratic Voting Systems Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 12. Making the legislature more democratic – Change the law to restrict the Premier’s power to shut down (prorogue) the legislature to only for a very short time, and only for an election (dissolution) or if the national situation has changed significantly or if the Premier can show that the government has completed all their pledged actions from the last Speech from the Throne (or attempted to do so, as the opposition parties may stop or delay completion of some actions). Give all party caucuses the power to choose which MPPs and senators in their party sits on legislature committees, and allow any MPP to introduce a private member bill at any time, and define what a “vote of confidence” is in the law in a restrictive way so most votes in the legislature are free votes. (Go to the Democratic Voting Systems Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 13. Ensuring free, fair and representative elections – Change the current voting law and system (the Elections Act) to specifically restrict the Premier’s power to call an unfair snap election, so that election dates are fixed as much as possible under the parliamentary system. Change the Act also so that nomination and party leadership races are regulated by Elections Ontario (including limiting spending on campaigns for party leadership), so that Elections Ontario determines which parties can participate in election debates based upon merit criteria, so that party leaders cannot appoint candidates except when a riding does not have a riding association, so that voters can give a reason if they decline their ballot (ie. vote for “none of the above”) and so Elections Ontario is required to educate voters about their legal right to decline their ballot, and to provide a more equal number of voters in every riding, and a more accurate representation in the legislature of the actual voter support for each political party (with a safeguard to ensure that a party with low-level, narrow-base support does not have a disproportionately high level of power in the legislature). (Go to the Democratic Voting Systems Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – D New Democrat Party – I V. General Government Accountability Measures Green Party – E Liberal Party – D- New Democrat Party – E Progressive Conservative Party – I Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 15. Ensuring effective whistleblower protection – Require everyone to report any violation of any law, regulation, policy, code, guideline or rule, and require all watchdog agencies over government (for example: Auditor General, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Integrity Commissioner, and Conflict of Interest Commissioner) to investigate and rule publicly on allegations of violations, to penalize violators, to protect anyone (not just employees) who reports a violation (so-called “whistleblowers”) from retaliation, to reward whistleblowers whose allegations are proven to be true, and to ensure a right to appeal to the courts. (Go to the Open Government Campaign for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – I Liberal Party – I New Democrat Party – I 16. Ensuring loophole free laws and strong penalties for wrongdoers – Close any technical and other loopholes that have been identified in laws, regulations, policies, codes, guidelines and rules (especially those regulating government institutions and large corporations) to help ensure strong enforcement, and increase financial penalties for violations to a level that significantly effects the annual revenues/budget of the institution or corporation. (Go to the Campaigns page for details about Democracy Watch’s proposals) Conservative Party – I Green Party – C Liberal Party – B- New Democrat Party – C |