Government Ethics Campaign

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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

Documents produced by the Government Ethics Campaign
Please donate and/or send letter using Action Alert
Please print and use Good Government sticker/door sign
Organizations join the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition by signing on to the Coalition's 19 Recommendations to Clean Up Canada's Lobbying and Ethics Rules Enforcement System
Summary of Ethics Court Cases and Ethics Complaints
Links to Government Ethics Rules and Enforcement Systems in Canada and elsewhere in the world
Links to Lobbyist Regulation Systems in Canada and elsewhere in the world

Interview on Can. lobbyists & politicians

Part 2 of interview on Can. lobbyists & politicians

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)

NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives' Proposed Changes Will Increase Disclosure and Ethics Requirements, But Secret and Unethical Lobbying Will Still Be Legal Until Other Huge Loopholes Are Closed (August 5, 2010)
RADIO PHONE-IN SHOW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher on the loopholes and flaws in Canada's democracy (CBC Maritime Noon phone-in show (starts 20 min. into show), July 15, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Loopholes in ethics rules allow MPs and Senators to keep active business and financial interests (Canada.com and National Post "Full Comment" blog, July 14, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Ethics Commissioner will investigate Conservative Cabinet minister's action in relation to former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer -- Commissioner should be investigating many other Conservative government representatives (CTV.ca and 16 other media outlets across Canada (all publishing a CanadianPress.com wire article), July 6, 2010)
OP-ED: Parliament has problems, but not the problems many commentators claim it has (Hill Times, July 5, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives continue patronage and crony appointments, and to break promise to establish Public Appointments Commission (Hill Times, July 5, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Loopholes in federal ethics rules allow MPs to have other jobs and businesses, and to lobby for them (CTV.ca and 36 other media outlets across Canada (all publishing CanadianPress.com wire article, July 5, 2010) -- To see a related news release, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: New Brunswick Conservatives promise dozens of democratic reforms, but details needed (New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, June 26, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: CSIS Director's Disclosure of Foreign Influence Over Canadian Government Officials Yet Another Reason To Ban Secret, Unethical Donations and Lobbying Across Canada -- If politicians across Canada do not close loopholes and strengthen enforcement, corruption of governments will continue to be easy (June 23, 2010)
OP-ED: Oliphant Commission and recent scandals show clear need for another Federal Accountability Act (Rabble.ca, June 16, 2010, Hill Times, June 21, 2010, TheMarkNews.com, June 23, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: Dangerously Unethical Loopholes in MP Ethics Rules Mean They Can Lobby For Themselves, Family Members and Anyone They Choose (June 14, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: Justice Oliphant Recommends Closing Only 4 of More Than 20 Loopholes in Ethics Rules For Cabinet Ministers and Senior Government Officials, and Correcting 14 of More Than 20 Flaws in Ethics Enforcement System -- Commission ignores many loopholes that allow for secret donations and lobbying and unethical actions by others in federal politics (May 31, 2010) -- NOTE: Covered by 45 media outlets across Canada
WEBSITE ARTICLE: New Brunswick Liberals again promise, and Conservatives promise for first time, to require disclosure of provincial lobbying (New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, May 27, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Would Challenge Federal Ethics Commissioner's Error-Filled Ruling on Lisa Raitt Fundraiser in Court, But Such Court Challenges are Illegal -- Group Calls For Dismissal of Ethics Commissioner, and Changes to Strengthen Federal Ethics Laws (May 17, 2010)
RADIO PHONE-IN SHOW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher on the loopholes and flaws in Canada's democracy (CBC Maritime Noon phone-in show (starts 15 min. into show), May 17, 2010)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Federal Liberal and Conservative proposed changes won't make secret, unethical lobbying illegal (Hill Times, May 17, 2010)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Federal Liberal and Conservative proposed changes won't make secret, unethical lobbying illegal (Hill Times, May 10, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Files Complaints With Federal Ethics Commissioner About Possible Preferential Treatment of Rahim Jaffer by Conservative Government Representatives (May 6, 2010)
OP-ED: Weak ethics rules and enforcement undermine everyone in Canadian politics (Hill Times, May 3, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch highlights loopholes in federal laws and enforcement that continue to allow for secret, unethical lobbying and advising by former politicians and government officials (Hill Times, April 26, 2010)
PODCAST INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher interviewed about Democracy Watch's history of success (This Magazine, April 26, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch points out loopholes in federal lobbying disclosure law revealed by Rahim Jaffer affair (CTV.ca and 10 other media outlets across Canada (all publishing Canadian Press wire article), April 23, 2010) -- To see related news release, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: MPs grill federal Ethics Commissioner about Helena Guergis affair (Halifax Chronicle Herald, April 23, 2010)
RADIO INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher points out loopholes and flaws in federal ethics and lobbying rules and enforcement system highlighted by the Helena Guergis/Rahim Jaffer situation, some of which Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson admits exist (CBC Radio's The Current (Part 1), April 15, 2010) -- To see related Democracy Watch news release, click here, and to see related CBC.ca article, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Recent Cases Highlight How Federal Ethics and Lobbying Commissioners Continue to Fail to Enforce Laws Effectively -- Commons committee must question both commissioners (April 14, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson creates secret process to hide Cabinet ministers' conflicts of interest, raising questions about compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act (Halifax Chronicle Herald, April 13, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Loopholes allow for secret, unethical federal lobbying, mainly by corporations (StraightGoods.ca, April 13, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson and federal Conservative Cabinet Minister Gail Shea fail to ensure declaration of recusal is in Shea's public file to alert public to conflict of interest (Halifax Chronicle Herald, April 12, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Former federal Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer faces allegations of influence-peddling, failing to register as a lobbyist, allegations he denies (Globe and Mail, April 9, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: New Brunswick coalition switches from opposing NB Power sale deal to pushing for democratic reforms (Fredericton Daily Gleaner, April 9, 2010)
TV NEWS PIECE: Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer and his spouse, Conservative Cabinet minister Helena Guergis, face allegations of improper activities, allegations they deny (CBC TV's The National, April 8, 2010)
TV INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher on allegations concerning former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer and his spouse, Conservative Cabinet minister Helena Guergis (CBC News Network's Power and Politics show, April 8, 2010 -- Interview begins at 11-minute mark and ends at 17-minute mark of the show)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Commissioner of Lobbying Fails in Past Year to Rule on Five Longstanding Ethics Complaints - Along with Federal Ethics Commissioner Also Taking Too Long to Rule on Complaints About Fundraising Events Held by Federal Conservatives Rick Dykstra and Lisa Raitt Last Fall (April 8, 2010) -- To see Canoe.ca article about the release, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher urges New Brunswickers to go from protesting proposed sale of NB Power on to pushing for democratic reforms to prevent future similar bad government decisions (Fredericton Daily Gleaner, May 20, 2010)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: At protest of New Brunswickers against proposed sale of NB Power company, Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher as keynote speaker raises questions about ethics of deal, and urges voters to push for key democratic reforms to stop similar future bad government decisions (CBC.ca, March 20, 2010)
NEWS RELEASE: Canadian Federal Government Far From Owning the Podium on Democracy and Government Accountability -- Drops to 11th in Global Integrity's New Annual Report -- Another Accountability Act Needed (March 1, 2010)
YouTUBE VIDEO: Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher on the ethics of lobbying federal Canadian politicians and Part 2 of the Interview (Duff Conacher speaks at the 4:35 minute mark of Part 2) and Part 3 of the Interview (Duff Conacher speaks from the 2:35 minute mark to the 5:35 minute mark of Part 3) (StraightGoods.ca, February 24, 2010)
RADIO PIECE: Examination of the federal Conservatives' democratic reform and accountability record featuring Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher (CBC Radio's The Current Part 3, February 4, 2010 or click here) -- 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)

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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):

Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (MPs - came into force in October 2004)

Federal Public Registry for MPs (Information page about the public registry for MPs financial statements, which is not available on-line)
Annual Report on MPs Sponsored Travel (scroll down on page the link takes you to for links to the annual Sponsored Travel lists)

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):

Conflict of Interest Code for Senators (covers members of the Senate of Canada, and the Code came into force in May 2005)
Federal Public Registry for Senators (Information page about the public registry for Senators financial statements, which is not available on-line)

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):

Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service (apply to employees of the federal government) -- For more details, see also the federal Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer and their Values and Ethics webpage
Federal Employee Entitlements Rules for Public Servants

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)

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Links to Lobbyist Regulation Systems in Canada and elsewhere in the world

Office of the Canadian federal Commissioner of Lobbying

Canadian federal government Registry of Lobbyists (Follow the instructions on the webpage this link takes you to)
Canadian federal Lobbying Act (see also links to Interpretation Bulletins, Advisory Opinions, and Regulations on webpage this link takes you to)

Regulations under the federal Canadian Lobbying Act (Follow the links to the regulations on the webpage this link takes you to)

Canadian federal Lobbyists' Code of Conduct (see especially November 2009 Guideline on Rule 8 in the Code, and Advisory Opinion under the Lobbyists' Code re: "Chinese Wall" Between Lobbying Firms and Other Companies -- NOTE: this Advisory Opinion is not legally binding)

Canadian provincial lobbyist registries:

Ontario Government Registry of Lobbyists

Québec Government Registry of Lobbyists (To see in English, click here)

City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

DemocracyLawBlog.ca (blog that tracks legal developments in democratic reform laws in Canada and in a couple of other countries)
Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (U.S. organization that tracks developments in government ethics, money in politics and lobbying laws across North America)
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)

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Page last updated August 5, 2010

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