Friday, March 16, 2007

OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch revealed that federal Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro has refused to review two complaints it filed about the federal Conservatives breaking their election promises concerning the so-called “Federal Accountability Act” (FAA) and the taxing of income trusts.  Democracy Watch is seeking a federal politician to re-file the complaints to force the Ethics Commissioner to review the complaints, and is seeking a lawyer to take the Commissioner to court for failing to review the complaints.

“As he has more than a dozen times in the past two years, the federal Ethics Commissioner has let federal politicians and officials off the hook by refusing to enforce ethics rules for highly speculative, technical and questionable reasons,” said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch.

The first complaint the Ethics Commissioner refused to deal with is Democracy Watch’s November 10, 2006 complaint concerning the promise made not to tax income trusts by the Conservative Party and then-Opposition Leader Stephen Harper during the last election, and the breaking of that promise by taxing income trusts while claiming that the election promise had not been broken. -- To see the details about the ethics complaint Democracy Watch filed about the Conservatives' breaking their election promises concerning taxing income trusts, click here --  To see the Ethics Commissioner's non-ruling on the complaint, click here

The second complaint the Ethics Commissioner refused to deal with is Democracy Watch’s December 12, 2006 complaint against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Treasury Board minister John Baird and other politicians and officials for being dishonest about the Conservative government’s failure to include all measures promised during and after the recent federal election in the FAA, and for claiming that key ethics rules are included in the FAA (when, in fact, the FAA deletes these rules). -- To see the details about the ethics complaint Democracy Watch filed about the Conservatives' breaking their election promises concerning the FAA, click here --  To see the Ethics Commissioner's non-ruling on the complaint, click here

Both complaints allege that the politicians and officials violated the rules in the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders (the Code) that require them to “act with honesty” (subsection 3(1) of the Code).

The Ethics Commissioner refused to deal with both complaints because he believes, incorrectly, that he can only deal with complaints filed by MPs or senators, and for other highly technical reasons. 

Democracy Watch has called on the Ethics Commissioner to resign and filed an application in court in September 2005 claiming the Commissioner is biased against enforcing ethics rules (September 29, 2005 news release about court application), which the Ethics Commissioner has challenged through a preliminary motion that is awaiting a hearing.

1. Office of the federal Ethics Commissioner - http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec
Annual Report of the Ethics Commissioner on Activities in Relation to Public Office Holders for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005 -
http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec/en/media/annual_reports/reports/AR_POH_EN_web.pdf

Annual Report of the Ethics Commissioner on Activities in Relation to Members of the House of Commons for the Fiscal Year ending March 31, 2005 - http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec/en/media/annual_reports/reports/AR_MP_EN_web.pdf

Annual Report on MPs Sponsored Travel for Fiscal Year ending March 31, 2005 -
http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec/en/media/annual_reports/reports/report_2004_en.pdf
 

2. Laws and Codes
Parliament of Canada Act - http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/3/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-4/C-4_4/C-4_cover-e.html

Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders (the Public Office Holders Code) -
http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec/en/public_office_holders/conflict_of_interest

Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (the MPs Code) -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/standingorders/appa2-e.htm
 

3. Transcripts of Parliamentary Committee Hearings at which the Ethics Commissioner and/or his staff have testified (in chronological order):
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on April 26, 2004 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/37/3/haff/meetings/evidence/HAFFEV16-E.HTM

Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on October 14, 2004 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/38/1/proc/meetings/evidence/PROCEV02-E.HTM

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on December 8, 2004 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/38/1/ethi/meetings/evidence/ETHIEV07-E.HTM

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on February 10, 2005 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/38/1/ethi/meetings/evidence/ETHIEV10-E.HTM

Subcommittee on the Disclosure Statement under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on April 14, 2005 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=112190

Subcommittee on the Disclosure Statement under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on April 21, 2005 -   http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=111744

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on May 10, 2005 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=116790

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on June 2, 2005 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=119710

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on June 9, 2005 -  http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=120510
 

4. Radio Interviews of the Ethics Commisioner
On September 11, 2004 on CBC Radio’s show “The House” - http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/audio.html (To listen to the piece, click on the "September 11" link under the heading "2004" on the page the link takes you to -- the piece starts 27 minutes, 50 seconds into the show, and ends 35 minutes, 12 seconds into the show)

On May 3, 2005, the Ethics Commissioner was interviewed on CBC Radio’s “The Current” show -  http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2005/200505/20050503.html (Part 2 of the show)
 

5. Judy Sgro Situation
Ethics Commissioner's June 21, 2005 ruling on the Sgro situation: http://www.parl.gc.ca/sites/ethicscommission/en/media/inquiry_reports/reports/ReportS_EN3_web.pdf

Democracy Watch's news release about the ruling on the Sgro situation - Ethics Commissioner Ruling on Sgro Affair Biased, Flawed -- Avoids Many Key Issues (June 21, 2005)

Democracy Watch's news release about the Ethics Commissioner's investigation of the Sgro situation - Ethics Commissioner Process Biased, Flawed -- Impartial Inquiry Needed into Sgro Affair (May 10, 2005)
 

6. Gurmant Grewal Situation
Ethics Commissioner's June 22, 2005 ruling on the Grewal situation - http://www.parl.gc.ca/oec-bce/site/pages/ReportG_EN1_web.pdf

Democracy Watch's news release about the Grewal ruling -
Ethics Commissioner Again Ignores Rules in Grewal Ruling, Testifies at Illegal House Committee Hearing (June 23, 2005)
 

7. Democracy Watch's Past News Releases and Op-Eds about the Ethics Commissioner
Gaps in Ethics Enforcement Must Be Closed to Ensure Honest, Ethical Government (February 6, 2003)

Ethically Challenged Martin an Example of Systemic Problem with Parliamentarians (February 28, 2003)

Senators, MPs Trying to Protect Themselves from Ethics Accountability (April 17, 2003)

Fatal Flaws in Ethics Watchdogs Bill C-34 -- Watchdogs Lack Coherence, Independence, Transparency and Accountability  (May 20, 2003)

Public Will Be Banned From Complaining About Unethical Politicians, Or Challenging Ethics Rulings -- Fatal Flaws Undermine Bill C-34 (June 10, 2003)

Liberals Want New Ethics Watchdog To Be An Unaccountable Government Lapdog (June 11, 2003)

Democracy Watch Calls on Senate, and PM to Strengthen Bill C-4 and Other Measures to Ensure Effective Ethics/Spending Enforcement (February 17, 2004)

Democracy Watch Hails Passage of Bill C-4, Ethics Enforcement for Federal Politicians Closer Than Ever in Canadian History (March 31, 2004)

Federal Ethics Commissioner Continues Completely Ineffective Enforcement of Cabinet Ethics Rules (Hill Times, April 25, 2005)

Group Calls on Ethics Commissioner to Rule On Deal Making by Prime Minister, MPs and PMO Staffer (May 20, 2005)

Ethics Commissioner Must Rule on PMO Staffer, Fails To Fulfill Legal Duties By Refusing To Do So (June 7, 2005)

Group Files Court Challenge of Federal Ethics Commissioner, Registrar of Lobbyists (September 29, 2005) - Ethics Court Case 2005 Application (September 20, 2005)

Lobbying Laws Endanger the Public - Allow for Secret, Unethical Lobbying (Globe and Mail, October 12, 2005)

Dingwall and TPC Mess Could Have Been Avoided if Former Ethics Counsellor and Lobbyist Registrar Had Done Their Jobs Properly (October 17, 2005)

Federal Liberals' Lobbying Scandal is 11 Years Old (Hill Times, October 24, 2005)
 

8. Summary of Democracy Watch's Eight Outstanding Ethics Complaint