Money In Politics Campaign 2006

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Money in Politics Campaign - 2006

Democracy Watch released the following documents in 2006 in its Money in Politics 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)
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: Nova Scotia's Conservative government works with Liberal Party to push through bill that changes provincial political donations law in some good ways, but also has many flaws (Halifax Chronicle Herald, December 7, 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: 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)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Nova Scotia Conservative government's bill proposing changes to the province's political financing system has many loopholes (Halifax Chronicle Herald (Marilla Stephenson's column), November 21, 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)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Many federal Liberal Party leadership candidates have large loans, and will likely violate federal elections law because they will not be able to pay them back within required 18 month time period (Edmonton Sun, November 15, 2006)
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)
OP-ED: Alberta Conservatives choosing the "best Premier money can buy" (Vue Weekly, October 5, 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)
OP-ED: As Canada's political donations system becomes more democratic, criticisms are misleading and misplaced (Guelph Mercury, September 22, 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)
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)
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)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch raises questions about Elections Canada's enforcement of federal donations law (Winnipeg Free Press, June 17, 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)
NEWS RELEASE: Elections Commissioner Should Investigate Donations to Liberal Leadership Candidate Joe Volpe, and Should Declare Martha Hall Findlay's Self-Loan a Donation -- Bill C-2 "Accountability Act" Changes Needed to End Large, Secret Donations (June 2, 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)
OP-ED: Federal election ad spending law helps democracy by limiting influence of wealthy interests (May 15, 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)
OP-ED: Praise and criticism of proposed "Federal Accountability Act" are both exaggerated (April 24, 2006)
NEWS RELEASE: Conservatives' "Federal Accountability Act" Includes Many Key Measures But Also Breaks Promises . . . (April 11, 2006)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Loophole in Elections Act possibly allows unlimited loans to federal party leadership candidates, an unfair recipe for corruption (Hill Times, March 27, 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)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Candidates for leadership of Nova Scotia Conservative Party (and for Premier) did not disclose donations before the leadership convention vote, a recipe for corruption and denial of voter rights (February 16, 2006, Canadaeast.com website (publishing Canadian Press article))
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)
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
NEWS RELEASE: Election Makes Clear Need for Election Reforms to Encourage Voter Turnout, Ensure Honesty, Fairness (January 27, 2006)
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
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
OP-ED: Election ad spending law helps democracy by limiting influence of wealthy interests -- Honesty and accountability measures the real solution to voters' concerns (National Post, January 5, 2006)

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