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Government Ethics
Campaign
Advocating stronger, more effectively
enforced ethics rules for candidates, politicians, government staff and
officials, and lobbyists
List of Materials / Links on this Page
2-part YouTube interview with StraightGoods.ca on
unethical relationships between Canadian politicians and lobbyists
Democracy
Watch
has
produced
the
following documents in its Government Ethics Campaign:
(in reverse chronological order)
- RADIO PIECE: Examination
of
the
federal Conservatives' democratic reform and accountability
record featuring Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher (CBC
Radio's The Current, February 4, 2010 -- click on Part 3 show link) -- To see Democracy Watch's Report Card
on the Conservatives' record, click
here
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: As
Democracy
Watch
has
detailed in many reports over the past 16 years, no
ruling party, nor Parliament overall, has done enough to reduce the
federal government's democratic deficit (Lawrence Martin's column, Globe and Mail, January 28, 2010)
-- To see some of Democracy
Watch's recent reports, click
here
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Once
again,
federal
Ethics
Commissioner
Mary Dawson protects Cabinet
ministers with flawed ethics ruling, this time approving of them
handing out government cheques labelled with Conservative Party logo
(Canada.com and 5 CanWest News Service newspapers across Canada,
January 14, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy
Watch's
successful
court
challenge
leads to stronger restrictions on
federal lobbyists giving gifts and doing favours for politicians,
parties and government
officials (Maclean's
magazine, December 23, 2009)
- NEWS RELEASE: Federal
Conservatives'
Accountability
and
Democratic
Reform Record Earns Only
an "E" Grade For Breaking Many Promises and Practising Politics As
Usual -- Three Years After Federal
Accountability
Act Became Law, Dishonesty, Conflicts of
Interest, Excessive Secrecy,
Unlimited
Donations and Patronage All Still Legal -- Another, Stronger
Accountability
Act Needed (December 16, 2009)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Like
all
lobbying
registries
across
Canada, Alberta's has huge loopholes
that allow for secret, unethical lobbying (Calgary Herald, December 14, 2009)
- NEWS RELEASE: As
International Anti-Corruption Day Passes By, Canadian Governments
Continue to Fail to Fulfill UN
Convention Against Corruption
Requirements and Other International Standards (December 9, 2009)
- NEWS RELEASE: Ontario
Liberals
Reject
Good
Government
Amendments to Their "Bad Government
Act" -- Dishonesty,
Secret Unlimited Donations, Secret Lobbying, Excessive Secrecy and
Conflicts
of Interest Still Allowed, and Independence of Public Inquiries
Undermined (December 3, 2009) -- To hear related interview on CIUT
Toronto's "Take Five" morning show, click
here (NOTE: The interview starts starts at the 3:30 min. mark of
the show, and ends at the 15:30 min. mark of the show)
Links to Ethics Rules and
Enforcement Systems in Canada and elsewhere in the world
- Office of the Federal
Canadian Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner oversees
and enforces the following ethics rules and registeries for Cabinet
Ministers, staff of Cabinet ministers and Cabinet appointees:
- Conflict
of
Interest
Act (As of July 9, 2007, this Act
replaced (and weakened because it deletes the rules requiring honesty,
and the avoidance of apparent and potential conflicts of interest) the
February 6, 2006 version of the Conflict of Interest and
Post-Employment Code
for Public Office Holders)
- Guideline
on Gifts (including Invitations, Fundraisers and Business Lunches)
(click on link to Guideline
(PDF format) on page this link takes you to)
- Federal
Public
Registry
for
Public
Office Holders (Searchable on-line
database of financial statements detailing some of the property and
investments owned by the Prime
Minister,
Cabinet ministers, some of their staff, and some government officials
(non-public
servants appointed by Cabinet) who are covered by the Conflict of
Interest Act)
- Accountable
Government:
A
Guide
for
Ministers and Ministers of State-2008
(first published in 1979, and updated regularly (link takes you to
version published October 30, 2008) and applies to Cabinet ministers
and junior Cabinet ministers (known as Ministers of State) --
supposedly enforced by the Prime Minister of Canada but no enforcement
actions have ever been taken by any Prime Minister)
- Federal
Treasury
Board
Guidelines
for
Ministers' Offices
(supposedly enforced by the
Treasury Board Secretariat, the federal government department that
oversees spending within departments and other government institutions,
but no enforcement actions have ever been taken by the Treasury Board)
- The Office of the
Federal
Canadian Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner also oversees
and enforces the following ethics rules and registeries for members of
the federal House of Commons (known as MPs):
- Office
of the Canadian Senate Ethics Officer who oversees the following
ethics rules and registries for members of the Senate of Canada (but
cannot enforce the rules without the approval of a committee of
Senators):
- Federal
Treasury Board Guidelines for Canadian Crown Corporation Appointments
(in
force as of March 15, 2004)
- Public Sector
Integrity Commissioner oversees whistleblower complaints about
wrongdoing by
federal government employees (known as public servants), under the Public Servants
Disclosure Protection Act including violations of laws,
regulations, codes, policies, guidelines and the following ethics rules
for public servants (Disclosure
of
wrongdoing
database):
- Canadian
federal
Lobbyists' Code of Conduct (see especially November
2009
Guideline on Rule
8 in the Code)
- Ethics
Rules
for
Federal
Judges
- Rules
for
Federal
Administrative
Tribunals
- Provincial
and Territorial Ethics Commissioners for Politicians
- Canadian
Provincial
and Territorial Ethics Laws for Politicians (NOTE: rules
do not cover
government
appointees or employees (known as public servants), who are covered by
a separate set
of
rules in each province and territory (although the Ontario Commissioner
does handle public servant whistleblower complaints))
- Province of
Ontario's Conflict of Interest Commissioner for government
appointees and employees
- General
Government Ethics Links Page developed by University of British
Columbia
- Council on Governmental
Ethics Laws (U.S. organization that tracks developments in
government
ethics, money in politics and lobbying laws across North America)
- United
Nations
Convention
Against
Corruption (signed December 2003, in
force as of December 2005)
- Global
Integrity (non-governmental organization that, through an
international research effort involving local organizations,
individuals and journalists, rates countries good governance and
anti-corruption systems and democratic processes)
- EthicsWorld.org
(a site that has many key links to government and business ethics news
and watchdog organizations around the world)
- The
Vatican's
Policy
Statement
"The
Fight Against Corruption" (this
September 2006 statement calls on Roman Catholic dioceses world-wide
to work for legal and societal changes to end corruption)
Links to Lobbyist Regulation
Systems in Canada and elsewhere in the world
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