Tuesday, May 20, 2003

OTTAWA - Today, the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition called on the federal government to close the serious loopholes in Bill C-34 which creates a new ethics enforcement system for Cabinet, MPs and senators.  Bill C-34 was introduced in Parliament on April 30.  If the loopholes are not closed, the Coalition believes the new system will be hampered by conflicts and too weak to ensure honest, ethical government.

"Prime Minister Chrétien has proposed a new 'swiss-cheese' ethics enforcement system filled with holes that will prove to be fatal flaws," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the Government Ethics Coalition, "especially given that the new ethics watchdogs will conflict with each other, be appointed by Cabinet, operate in secret, and be unaccountable to the public or the courts."

The details of the fatal flaws in Bill C-34's proposed ethics enforcement system are as follows (and for each flaw the Coalition's recommendation for changing Bill C-34 is set out below):

• three new ethics watchdogs will replace the current Ethics Counsellor -- one for Cabinet ministers and MPs (to be known as the "Ethics Commissioner"), one for senators (to be known as the "Senate Ethics Officer"), and the Registrar for Lobbyists will enforce the existing Lobbyists' Code of Conduct -- and this will very likely result in conflicting and different ethics standards for MPs compared to senators (COALITION'S RESPONSE: one ethics watchdog should enforce all the ethics rules for Cabinet ministers, MPs, senators, and lobbyists and public servants);
• the Cabinet will select the Ethics Commissioner and Senate Ethics Officer after "consultation" with opposition party leaders, and will also select the Registrar for Lobbyists (COALITION'S RESPONSE: having the Cabinet select the ethics watchdogs will make them biased in favour of the ruling party -- given that the three ethics watchdogs will investigate situations involving politicians from all parties, all party leaders must have a veto over the selection of the ethics watchdogs);
• only MPs and senators will be able to file complaints with the Ethics Commissioner about violations of the existing Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders (the Public Office Holders Code) which covers Cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries, ministerial staff, and some Cabinet appointees (COALITION'S RESPONSE: the public must have the right to file complaints about violations of any ethics rule with any ethics watchdog);
• Bill C-34 prohibits an application to court to review the decisions of all three ethics watchdogs, and the access to information law will not apply to the watchdogs (COALITION'S RESPONSE: a right to appeal to court, and the access to information law, are essential accountability measures for all ethics watchdogs);
• under Bill C-34, the Ethics Commissioner will give secret advice to those covered by the Public Office Holders Code (COALITION'S RESPONSE: all advice and rulings of the Ethics Commissioner must be made public (in the case of advice, the identity of the politician who asked for the advice could be kept secret)); and
• Bill C-34 does not include the ethics codes for ministers, MPs and senators, nor does it give the Ethics Commissioner or the Senate Ethics Officer full investigative powers when investigating MPs or senators, nor does it require them to make advice and rulings public (COALITION'S RESPONSE: Bill C-34 should include the ethics codes for all politicians and investigative powers and public ruling requirements for their ethics watchdogs);

In order to have an effective, comprehensive government ethics system, the Coalition also believes that the following gaps in the current system must be closed by the following new measures:

• the codes for ministers, MPs, Senators, lobbyists and public servants should be changed into laws so they have greater force;
• there should be high fines as a penalty for breaking any of these ethics laws;
• the proposed new Ethics Commissioner should also be empowered to issue public advisory opinions and investigate and publicly rule on alleged violations of ethics rules by public servants (instead of senior public servants enforcing public service ethics rules); and
• the Ethics Commissioner should also be given the power to protect public servant "whistleblowers" (replacing the current Public Integrity Officer who lacks key powers and does not make public rulings).

Democracy Watch's nation-wide, 30-member group Government Ethics Coalition will continue to push for stronger and more comprehensive measures to be included in Bill C-34.