Government Ethics Campaign 2006

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Government Ethics Campaign - 2006

Democracy Watch released the following documents in 2006 in its Government Ethics Campaign
(in reverse chronological order):

LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Media Helps Prime Minister Mislead Canadians on so-called "Federal Accountability Act" (December 21, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Many Ontario Politicians on Unethical Gravy Train -- Propose To Raise Their Own Pay, But Not To Limit Donations, To Strengthen Ethics Rules, Or To Strengthen Democracy (December 19, 2006)
OP-ED: Conservatives Half-Measures Not Enough to Clean Up the Federal Government (Calgary Herald and Straightgoods.com, December 13, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Accountability Act's Half-Measures a Half-Step Forward in Federal Government Accountability, Not the Giant Step Forward Promised by the Conservatives -- Democracy Re-Files Its Ethics Complaint . . . (December 12, 2006)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Senate Ethics Officer is a lapdog, not a watchdog (Ottawa Citizen, December 11, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: International Day Against Corruption Passing By -- Federal Government Has Still Not Ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, Nor Included Key Measures in Bill C-2 and Bill C-25 Needed to Combat Government Corruption in Canada (December 8, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Conservatives copy Liberals' tradition of holding special parties for high-level donors, raising questions about violations of federal ethics rules (Hill Times, December 4, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch will file ethics complaints against lobbyists who worked in high-level positions for Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates (Georgia Straight, November 30, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Liberal senators unjustifiably delay passage of Bill C-2 (the so-called "Federal Accountability Act") after House of Commons reject many Senate amendments (Hill Times, November 27, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Liberal-Controlled Senate Strengthens Bill C-2 (The So-Called "Federal Accountability Act") in 22 Key Ways That the House of Commons Should Approve, and Weakens It In 4 Key Ways, 3 of Which Should Be Rejected (November 15, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Files Ethics Complaints Against Prime Minister Harper and Finance Minister Flaherty for Dishonesty on Taxing Income Trusts (November 10, 2006) -- To see a video of part of Democracy Watch 's news conference, click the link under the heading "Video" on the following CTV.ca webpage
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Telecommunications companies donate large amounts to Newfoundland and Labrador Conservatives, raising ethical questions about approval of new provincial communications line (CBC Radio (Newfoundland and Labrador) website, November 9, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Liberal Senators Propose to Strengthen Bill C-2 (the So-Called "Federal Accountability Act") in Many Key Ways, and to Weaken it in Three Key Ways -- Will Conservative and Liberal Senators and MPs Support the Changes? (October 30, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives Fail To Include Canadian Politicians and Government Officials in Anti-Corruption Bill C-25 as Recommended by the United Nations and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (October 12, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives break many open government and accountability promises in Bill C-2 (the so-called "Federal Accountability Act") (Maclean's magazine, October 12, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE/VIDEO: Canadian government's High Commission in England funds event with $100,000 contract going to boyfriend of High Commission staffperson (CTV National News, October 5, 2006 and CTV Canada AM, October 6, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Bill C-2 (the so-called "Federal Accountability Act") is much weaker than the Conservatives promised (Ottawa Sun editorial, September 24, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Key Question for Parliament's Fall Session -- Will Government Accountability Be Increaseed? (September 19, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Senate Should Uphold Voter Rights and Amend Bill C-2 to Force Conservatives to Keep 21 Broken Election Promises, But Has No Right to Weaken Bill C-2 in Any Way (September 15, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Scott Newark, an adviser to federal Conservative Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day until the end of April 2006, now working on a contract awarded by Day's department (Canada.com website and several CanWest newspapers across Canada, September 13, 2006)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Senator Michael Kirby was unethical because of corporate board positions (Ottawa Citizen, August 28, 2006)
OP-ED: Federal Conservatives' Bill C-2 (the so-called "Federal Accountability Act") is Flawed, But Not in the Ways Some Critics Claim (July 31, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal MPs take free trips to Israel and Taiwan paid for by lobby groups -- federal Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro does nothing about violation of ethics rules (Hamilton Spectator, July 22, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Five lobbyists under investigation for violating federal Lobbyists Registration Act while lobbying for Technology Partnerships Canada corporate welfare grants (Hill Times, July 17, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Audit shows corporate lobbyists corrupting federal government's Technology Partnership Canada corporate welfare fund (July 13, 2006, Ottawa Sun and SunMedia papers across Canada)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Assembly of First Nations has hired Chief Phil Fontaine's partner several times for legal services (CJAD Talk Radio website (Montreal - based on Canadian Press wire story), July 13, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservative Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor involved in decisions on contracts with defence industry companies he worked with as a lobbyist (PoliticsWatch.com, June 27, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: House of Commons Plays Self-Interested Games in Passing Loophole-Filled "Federal Accountability Act" -- Senate Should Uphold Voter Rights and Amend Bill C-2 to Force Conservatives to Keep 21 Broken Election Promises (June 26, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives Protect Cabinet Ministers by Breaking Promise to Close Loophole That Allows Ministers to Address Issues That Affect Their Business Interests -- Opposition Parties Not Focused on Correcting Many Major Flaws in Bill C-2, the "Federal Accountability Act" (June 13, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives practise unethical politics as usual in relationships with corporate lobbyists (Canada.com website and several CanWest newspapers, June 12, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Canadian city governments need lobbying disclosure and regulation laws (24 Hours, June 12, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attack on lobbyists mostly talk, as corporate lobbyists continue to dominate federal government (Calgary Sun (printing Canadian Press article), June 4, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Details Changes in 15 Key Areas That Must Be Made to the Federal Accountability Act to Ensure An Honest, Ethical, Open, Waste-Prevention and Representative Federal Government (May 30, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Files Ethics Complaint Against Prime Minister, . . . For Being Dishonest About Broken Election Promises -- Conservatives Propose to Cut Federal Ethics Rule That Requires Top Politicians and Officials to be Honest (May 25, 2006)
OP-ED: Gifts to MPs, staff and public officials have unethical influence -- ban on gifts must be enforced (Hill Times, May 22, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Conservatives promise to strengthen "Federal Accountability Act" (Bill C-2) to ensure such "transition team" staff members are banned for five years from becoming lobbyists -- To see the article, click here (National Post, April 27, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Sends Letters to Ethics Commissioner Requesting Details on When He Will Rule on Complaints Against Party-Switchers Stronach and Emerson, and Prime Ministers Martin and Harper (April 27, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Prime Minister Harper fails to practise what he preaches -- attends high cost fundraiser for New Brunswick Conservative Party (Canadaeast.com, April 25, 2006 -- To see the CBC website article about this issue, click here)
OP-ED: Praise and criticism of proposed "Federal Accountability Act" are both exaggerated (April 24, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Expects Rulings Soon on Years-Old Ethics Complaints Against Federal Lobbyists and Politicians (April 20, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Conservatives' "Federal Accountability Act" Includes Many Key Measures But Also Breaks Promises . . . (April 11, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives' "Accountability Act" will end reign of error of current federal Ethics Commissioner (PoliticsWatch.com, April 11, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Complaints filed by Liberals, and to be filed by Democracy Watch, about Conservative staffers becoming lobbyists (Globe and Mail, March 30, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Former federal Conservative staff people become lobbyists, violating spirit of election promises (Globe and Mail, March 29, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Conservatives' "Federal Accountability Act" Should Be Expanded to Close All Loopholes -- Other Key Democratic Reforms Should Be Priority for All Parties in Parliament (March 27, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Ethics Commissioner Again Improperly Rules on Ethics Complaints -- Wrongly Claims He Cannot Rule on Honesty and Increasing Public Trust Rules -- Democracy Watch Awaits Rulings on its Complaints (March 20, 2006) -- To see Canadian Press wire story about this issue, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Files Ethics Complaints Against Party-Switchers Stronach and Emerson, and Prime Ministers Martin and Harper -- Calls on Ethics Commissioner to Resign (March 14, 2006) -- To see the PoliticsWatch.com article about this news release, click here
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Five-year ban on former ministerial staffers becoming lobbyists is both needed and reasonable (Hill Times, March 13, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Ethics Commissioner and All Political Parties Hypocritical and Dishonest in Emerson Cabinet Appointment Complaint Fiasco -- Shows Clear Need for Merit-Based Appointment Process for All Government Watchdog Agencies (March 10, 2006) -- To see Canadian Press article on Canada.com website, click here -- To see the CBC website story and TV news video, click here -- To see the Hill Times article (March 13, 2006), click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives consulting on strengthening federal government's whistleblower protection system as part of pledged Federal Accountability Act (Canada.com website, March 6, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not cooperate with federal Ethics Commissioner's investigation of complaint against David Emerson appointment (Vancouver Sun, March 4, 2006) -- To see the PoliticsWatch.com article on the same issue, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservative Party is consulting with citizen groups on strengthening federal whistleblower protection system (March 6, 2006 -- To see Canada.com website article, click here)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Conservatives election pledge includes cash rewards for whistleblowers who report government wrongdoing (Ottawa Sun, February 24, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Stephen Harper Breaks Pledge to Close Five Loopholes in Ethics Rules for Ministers, Their Staff, and Top Bureaucrats -- One Loophole Left Open Especially for David Emerson? -- . . . (February 22, 2006) -- To see the PoliticsWatch.com website article about this issue, click here
OP-ED: Conservatives' pledge to close most loopholes in federal government's accountability system -- but leave some key loopholes (Winnipeg Free Press, January 28, 2006, and Law Times (weekly newspaper), February 13, 2006) -- To see also the article in the Hill Times (January 30, 2006), which quotes part of the opinion piece, click here -- To see related article in the Globe and Mail (March 10, 2006), click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Party-switching Conservative Trade Minister David Emerson has conflict of interest dealing with softwood lumber trade issue (PoliticsWatch.ca, February 8, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch Will File Ethics Complaints on Dingwall Payment Fiasco and David Emerson's Party-Switching Cabinet Post, Other Cabinet Postings Highly Questionable (February 6, 2006) -- To see the PoliticsWatch.com website article about this issue, click here -- To see the Globeandmail.com article about this issue, click here -- To see also the February 11, 2006 Toronto Star article about this issue, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Gomery Commission's Second Report Contains Six Recommendations that the Conservatives Should Add to Their Planned "Federal Accountability Act" (February 1, 2006) -- To see also the column in the Calgary Sun (February 2, 2006) which quotes Democracy Watch Coordinator Duff Conacher, click here
RADIO INTERVIEW: Duff Conacher on CBC Radio's "The Current" re: the federal Conservative Party's plan to enact a "Federal Accountability Act" with 52 measures and likely recommendations in the second Gomery Commission Report (February 1, 2006 -- To listen to the interview, scroll down on the page this link takes you to and click on the "Part 1" link -- the interview starts 2 minutes 40 seconds into Part 1 of the show and runs to the 17-minute point of the show)
NEWS RELEASE: Election Makes Clear Need for Election Reforms to Encourage Voter Turnout, Ensure Honesty, Fairness (January 27, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ethics Commissioner's ruling in Grewal Affair hidden from public until after election, breaking Commissioner's promise to release report by end of 2005 (National Post, January 26, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ethics Commissioner's ruling in Grewal Affair again ignores evidence, and again fails to find ministerial staffer guilty (Maclean's magazine (CP wire story), January 25, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: 1,147 Promises from the Five Main Parties -- No Guarantee Offered By Any Party Leader, and No Pledges to Pass "Honesty-in-Politics" Law (January 20, 2006) -- See also January 21, 2006 Canoe.ca article about this news release by clicking here
REPORT CARD: Federal Conservative Party Has Best Government Accountability Election Platform -- NDP, Greens, Bloc Tied Not Far Behind, Liberal Grades Much Worse -- All Platforms Still Have Key Gaps. . . (January 18, 2006) -- See also WEBSITE ARTICLE on CTV.ca's website about Democracy Watch's Report Card and WEBSITE ARTICLE on Canoe.ca website about this news release by clicking here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal lobbying law changes will change lobbying industry in Ottawa, if Conservatives win and keep promises (Vancouver Sun, January 18, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Voters Have Right to Know Donors and Loans to Candidates and Parties Before Election Day-- Do Liberals Still Owe Banks $34.8 Million? (January 16, 2006) -- See also WEBSITE ARTICLE on CTV.ca's website about this news release by clicking here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives' platform missing pledge to ensure that lobbyists can't work for government departments, or have connections with companies that do such work (PoliticsWatch.com, January 13, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper bans B.C. Conservative election candidate who hid legal violation charges from Conservative Party (Globe and Mail.com, January 12, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: B.C. Conservative federal election candidate hid that he is charged with violating customs law, going to trial in February (CTV National News, January 11, 2006 -- On webpage this link takes you to, click on link on lower right-hand side to see the video)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Debate on Ethics and Accountability Issues Raises Key Questions About Trusting Party Leaders (January 10, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper has unethical belief that there it is fine for lobbyists to work on political party campaigns (PoliticsWatch.com, January 3, 2006)

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