OpEdApr0412.html

Fighter jet spending scandal yet another example of why good government watchdogs must disclose identity of wrongdoers and be given power to penalize them

Set out below is a letter-to-the-editor by Democracy Watch Board member Duff Conacher which was published on HuffingtonPost.ca and on Rabble.ca on April 4, 2012, and in the Regina Leader Post and the Vancouver Sun on April 9, 2012

As the federal Integrity Commissioner did in a recent report, and as many good government watchdogs have done in the past, the Auditor General kept secret the names of wrongdoers in his report on the fighter jet purchase multi-billion dollar boondoggle.

The public has a right to know the identity of its employees -- politicians, political staff, appointees or public servants – who break the rules, and so all the good government watchdog agencies must be required by law to identify exactly which person broke which rule in each situation.

As well, because Prime Minister and senior government officials are very reluctant to penalize anyone, especially themselves, the good government watchdog agencies must all be given the power to penalize wrongdoers with high fines -- to bite not just bark.

The good government watchdog laws are all being reviewed by Parliament this year. Will the Conservatives, who so far have broken most of their 2006 promises to clean up the federal government, make the key needed changes to these laws to help end, finally after 145 years, federal government boondoggles?

And, of course, provincial, territorial and municipal laws across the country must be changed in these same ways.

For more details, go to Democracy Watch's Voter Rights Campaign page