Wednesday, June 11, 2003

OTTAWA - Democracy Watch today praised the efforts of opposition party MPs on the House Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs for trying to correct the serious flaws in the new ethics enforcement system proposed in Bill C-34 at Committee hearings yesterday.  Only Liberal MPs on the Committee voted against amendments proposed by NDP, Canadian Alliance, PC and Bloc Québecois MPs.

"By rejecting the reasonable changes proposed by opposition MPs, the Liberals have ensured that the new ethics watchdog for ministers will be an unaccountable, government-controlled lapdog," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the Government Ethics Coalition.

The Liberals rejected amendments that would have strengthened the ethics enforcement system in the following ways (opposition MPs on the Committee voted in favour of all amendments set out below):

• making the Ethics Commissioner for ministers and MPs actually independent by requiring two-thirds of MPs to approve the person appointed as Commissioner;
• also making the Commissioner independent by guaranteeing that the Commissioner's pay could not be cut if Cabinet is upset about the Commissioner's activities, and by limiting the Commissioner to one seven-year term so that the Commissioner is not tempted to please Cabinet in order to secure a second or third term in office;
• ensuring that the public has a right to file complaints with the Ethics Commissioner about unethical behaviour by ministers;
• ensuring that the Ethics Commissioner could be taken to court for failing to enforce ethics rules; and
• ensuring the Ethics Commissioner cannot give secret advice to the Prime Minister.