Monday, February 28, 2005

OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch called on Prime Minister Paul Martin to clean up his so-called “free” vote system for Parliament so it upholds democratic governance principles.

“The Prime Minister’s so-called free vote system for MPs sounds democratic but is so flawed that it is actually a recipe for corrupt, arbitrary decisions by MPs,” said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch. “The system must be democratized by requiring and funding MPs to consult meaningfully with their constituents and to vote only according to their constituents’ will.”

When Prime Minister Martin announced the details of his democratic reform plan on February 4, 2004, his general principles included that “Members of the House should have more opportunity to express their own views and those of their constituents.”  The fatal flaw is this principle gives MPs the undemocratic choice in so-called free votes to represent either themselves or their constituents, allowing MPs to vote according to their own whims or as pressured by Cabinet ministers or lobby groups, when they should be required to represent only the will of their constituents.

The further problem with the Prime Minister’s system is that MPs have not been given the financial resources they need to consult in meaningful ways with their constituents.  As a result, many MPs are essentially forced to vote according to their own views, as they cannot find out what a majority of their constituents wants them to do.  To be meaningful, a consultation in each riding would involve multiple meetings of a representative sample of constituents learning the issue and having their views recorded, with all the results made public before any related vote in Parliament.

Another problem with the Prime Minister’s system is that the federal Lobbyist Registration Act does not require disclosure by Minister’s or MPs of details about who is lobbying them on what issues and how much they are spending on their lobbying campaign, and as a result the public has no idea whether an MP is voting yes or no based on the undue influence of a lobbyist or lobby group.

A final problem with the Prime Minister’s system is that it does not apply at all to the Senate, allowing senators to continue to make very undemocratic, unethical decisions.  In fact, senators have continued to refuse to finalize and pass an ethics code for themselves, and Martin has done little to push them to do so despite claiming last February that “Ethics and integrity are at the core of public confidence in government and in the political process."