Thursday, June 16, 1994

OTTAWA - Democracy Watch today responded to the federal government's lobbying and ethics reforms by criticizing the narrow scope of the reforms and the lack of effectivement enforcement measures.

"In the election campaign the Liberals claimed that the Conservatives had 'badly shaken' Canadians faith in political institutions," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch, "The Liberals lobbying and ethics reforms do not give Canadians any reasons to stop shaking."

Howard Wilson, as Assistant Deputy Registrar General, conducted the government consultation on lobbying reforms. Of the 192 parties he contacted, 164 (85 percent) represent business associations, major corporations, or lobbying firms. These interests overwhelmingly recommended that the Holtmann Committee recommendations be abandoned by the government. "Only consulting lobbyists about proposed lobbying reforms is like only consulting gun owners about a proposed gun control law. They both have targets they are aiming at, and they don't want any restrictions placed on their activities, even if those restrictions are in the public interest," said Conacher.

Howard Wilson has been appointed as the new Ethics Counsellor. He is a government-appointed top bureaucrat; consulted with business associations and lobbyists on lobbying reforms; is potentially subject to the ethics code he is supposed to draft; has no enforcement powers; and will report to the Prime Minister, not Parliament. "How can he effectively monitor conflicts of interest when he is in a conflict of interest himself as the monitor?" said Conacher, "Who guards the guard in this situation?"

Prime Minister Chrétien today said that "integrity is more than just nice words or a photo-op, it is a way of life." And Industry Minister John Manley said that "our system depends on trust." But the government must first restore honesty and integrity to the system before Canadians will trust them again, and part of trusting government is knowing that the government has put in place effective mechanisms to check the power it holds and allow the public to hold it accountable. "What law do you know that enforces itself. Without an effective enforcement mechanism, the government's integrity package is just nice words," said Conacher.

The government also failed to enact key recommendations of the Holtmann Committee, as they promised they would during the campaign. They have maintained the false distinction between Tier I and Tier II lobbyists, only requiring Tier II lobbyists to register once per year. "A lobbyist is a lobbyist is a lobbyist, whether employed as a hired gun on a short-term contract, or employed full-time for an association," said Conacher, "The same disclosure rules should apply to all lobbyists."

While more information will be disclosed under the new lobbying rules, the difficulties of accessing the information have not been addressed by the government. Currently, anyone who wants information about lobbyists has to come to Ottawa and pay high fees to use the lobbyists' registry. How does this system serve the public's right to know about lobbyists' activities. "Canadians should not need the skills of a private investigator or the resources of a large media outlet to discover who is influencing their politicians," said Conacher, "The government should put the information on-line on computer databases and make it available for free in public libraries across the country."

"The Liberals promised a new government that would make a positive difference by listening to the people. They have broken their promise by acting like an old-style government that makes little difference and only listens to lobbyists," said Conacher, "They're not restoring integrity to government, they're redefining it as whatever they do."

Duff Conacher is the Coordinator of Democracy Watch. Democracy Watch is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes citizen participation in public affairs, government and corporate accountability, and ethical behaviour in government and business.

The proceeds from the sales of the #1 Canadian best-seller Canada firsts: Ralph Nader's Salute to Canada and Canadian Achievement, co-authored by Duff Conacher, Ralph Nader and Nadia Milleron, have been donated as start-up funding to Democracy Watch.