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Voter Rights Campaign -
2010
Democracy Watch released the following
documents in
2010 in
its Voter
Rights Campaign
(newest to oldest)
- NEWS RELEASE: Federal
Conservatives'
Accountability
and
Democratic
Reform
Record
Gets
An
"F"
For
Breaking
Many
Promises
and
Practising
Politics
As
Usual
--
Another,
Stronger
Accountability
Act
Needed
To
Close
100
Remaining
Loopholes
and
Flaws
(December 17, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Conservatives
appoint
new,
interim
whistleblower
protection
commissioner
to
review
backlog
of
complaints
not
reviewed
properly
by
former
commissioner (Globe
and
Mail, December 14, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy
Watch
calls
on
New
Brunswick
provincial
government
to
create
arms-length
appointment
commission (New
Brunswick Daily Gleaner,
November 19, 2010)
- TESTIMONY: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
on
loopholes
in
federal
good
government
laws
highlighted
by
West
Block
contracting
scandal (November 16,
2010 - NOTE: testimony starts at point 0955 of
transcript and continues
through questions)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Court
of
Appeal
ruling
puts
B.C.
fixed
election
date
law,
and
date
of
next
provincial
election,
in
doubt (Georgia
Straight, November 3-4,
2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Conservatives
must, finally, keep promise and establish Public
Appointments Commission before appointing new Auditor
General (Hill
Times, November 1, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Alliance
of
More
Than
30
Groups
Calls
For
Stronger
Federal
Whistleblower
Protection
and
Stronger
Integrity
Commissioner (October 27, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy
Watch
calls
on
Nova
Scotia
government
to
keep
legislature
open
more
to
increase
accountability (CBC.ca and 9 other media outlets
across
Canada (all publishing Canadian Press wire article),
October 24, 2010)
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Fixed
Election Date Court Case Continues With
Application to Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
(Hill Times,
October 18, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Federal
Whistleblower
Protection
System
Must
Be
Strengthened
To
Be
Effective
--
Similar
Changes
Needed
Across
Canada
(October 7, 2010)
- OP-ED: Parliament
has
problems, but not the problems many commentators claim
it has (Waterloo
Region Record, Guelph Mercury, October 2, 2010)
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Governor General
Michaelle Jean Should
Also Explain Why She Approved Prime Minister Harper's
September 2008
Snap Election Call (National Post,
October
1,
2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Democracy
Watch
Applies
to
Supreme
Court
of
Canada
For
Leave
to
Appeal
Fixed
Election
Date
Case
Ruling
--
Group
Calls
on
Prime
Minister
to
Promise
Not
to
Call
Another
Snap
Election
Until
Supreme Court Rules
(September 27, 2010) - JOIN Facebook
Group To Protest Another Snap Federal
Election
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: New
Brunswick
coalition
releases
second
democracy
report
card
on
provincial
parties'
election
platforms (Daily
Gleaner and Times
and
Transcript (New Brunswick), July 17, 2010) --
To see Telegraph
Journal article on the
same subject, click
here
- YOUTUBE VIDEO: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator Duff Conacher on the Coalition of New
Brunswickers campaign
for democratic reforms in the province (July 16,
2010) -- To see
details, click
here
- YOUTUBE VIDEO: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator Duff Conacher on the decision by New
Brunswick provincial
politicians to increase their pension in spring 2010
(July 16,
2010)
-- To see
details, click
here
- RADIO PHONE-IN SHOW: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
on
the
loopholes
and
flaws
in
Canada's
democracy (CBC Maritime Noon phone-in show (starts
20 min. into
show), July 15, 2010)
- OP-ED: Parliament
has
problems, but not the problems many commentators claim
it has (Hill
Times, July 5, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Conservatives
continue patronage and crony appointments, and to
break
promise to establish Public Appointments Commission
(Hill Times,
July 5, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: New
Brunswick
Conservatives promise more collaborative government if
elected in September provincial election (New Brunswick
Telegraph Journal, July 1, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: New
Brunswick
Conservatives
promise
dozens
of
democratic
reforms,
but
details
needed (New
Brunswick
Telegraph Journal, June 26, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: CSIS
Director's
Disclosure of Foreign Influence Over Canadian
Government
Officials Yet Another Reason To Ban Secret, Unethical
Donations and
Lobbying Across Canada -- If
politicians
across Canada do not close
loopholes and strengthen enforcement,
corruption of governments will
continue to be easy
(June 23, 2010)
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Auditor
General should not have compromised -- is legally
required to audit
expenses of MPs
(and Senators) (Hill
Times,
June
21,
2010)
- OP-ED: Oliphant
Commission
and recent scandals show clear need for another
Federal
Accountability Act (Rabble.ca, June 16, 2010, Hill Times, June
21, 2010,
TheMarkNews.com, June 23, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Auditor
General
should
not
compromise
--
is
legally
required
to
audit
all
public
money
spent
by
MPs/House
and
Senators/Senate (Toronto
Star, June 16, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Federal
Court
of
Appeal
Ruling
Means
Harper
Conservatives
Broke
Their
2006
Election
Promise
to
Fix
Election
Dates
--
Democracy
Watch
Will
Apply
For
Leave
to
Appeal
to
Supreme
Court
of
Canada
(May 26, 2010) JOIN Facebook
Group To Protest Another Snap Federal
Election
- NEWS RELEASE: Democracy
Watch
in
Court
Today
--
Appealing
Federal
Court
Ruling
That
Legalized
Conservative
Prime
Minister
Harper's
September
2008
Snap
Federal
Election
Call
Despite
Fixed-Election-Date
Law (May 25, 2010) NOTE:
Covered by 40 media outlets across Canada
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Auditor General has
not only the
power, but actually a legal duty, to audit MPs and
Parliament (Hill
Times, May 24, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: MPs'
attendance
records
in
Parliament
kept
secret,
violating
the
public's
right
to
know
whether
they
are
doing
their
job (Canoe.ca and 7
other SunMedia newspapers across Canada, May 24, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Auditor
General
not
only
has
clear
power
to
audit
MPs
and
Parliament,
she
is
legally
required
to
do
the
audit
every
few
years (Globe
and
Mail, May 19, 2010)
- MEDIA ALERT: May
25th
Hearing of Appeal of Federal Court Ruling That
Legalized
Conservative Prime Minister Harper's September 2008
Snap Federal
Election Call Despite Fixed-Election-Date Law (May
19, 2010) -- To see
related Canoe.ca article
(published by 5 SunMedia newspapers across Canada), click
here
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Auditor
General has clear power and legally required mandate
to audit MPs (Halifax
Chronicle Herald, May 18,
2010)
- RADIO PHONE-IN SHOW: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
on
the
loopholes
and
flaws
in
Canada's
democracy (CBC Maritime Noon phone-in show (starts
15 min. into
show), May 17, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
political
parties
refuse
to
allow
Auditor
General
to
audit
spending
by
MPs,
raising
questions
of
what
they
are
hiding (Toronto
Star, May 14, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Fixed
election
dates
with
election
spending
regulations
for
long
time
period
before
voting
day
are
more
fair
for
everyone (New
Brunswick Times and Transcript,
May 10, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Newfoundland
and
Labrador
Premier
Danny
Williams
seeks
third
term
in
2011
fixed-date
provincial
election,
but
loopholes
allow
him
to
escape
accountability
(CTV.ca and 26 other media outlets across Canada
(including the Globe
and Mail, Winnipeg
Free Press,
Metro
newspapers
and
many
radio
station
websites,
May
10,
2010)
- OP-ED: Weak
ethics
rules and enforcement undermine everyone in Canadian
politics (Hill
Times, May 3, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
government's
waste
prevention
rules
and
watchdog
agencies
too
weak
to
prevent
waste (Toronto
Sun
and 6 other Sunmedia newspapers across Canada, April 20,
2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: New
Brunswick
coalition
switches
from
opposing
NB
Power
sale
deal
to
pushing
for
democratic
reforms (Fredericton
Daily
Gleaner, April 9, 2010)
- TV PANEL: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
on
TV
show
panel
on
Senate
reform
(TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin, March 23, 2010) --
Click on Senate
Reform link on the page
- NEW RELEASE: Democracy
Watch
Applauds
Opposition
Parties
Actions
on
Disclosure
of
Afghan
Detainee
Documents,
Prorogation
and
MP
Mailings,
But
More
Effective
Measures
Needed (March 22, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: At
protest
of thousands against NB Power deal on Saturday,
Democracy Watch
Coordinator Duff Conacher calls the deal a violation
of key democratic
government principles (Saint John
Telegraph Journal, March 22, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
urges
New
Brunswickers
to
go
from
protesting
proposed
sale
of
NB
Power
on
to
pushing
for
democratic
reforms
to
prevent
future
similar
bad
government
decisions (Fredericton
Daily
Gleaner, May 20,
2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: At
protest
of
New
Brunswickers
against
proposed
sale
of
NB
Power
company,
Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher
as
keynote
speaker
urges
them
to
push
for
key
democratic
reforms
to
stop
similar
future
bad
government
decisions (CBC.ca, March 20, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Democracy
Watch
Calls
on
All
Federal
Parties
to
Reach
Agreement
on
Eliminating
"10-Percenter"
Mailings
to
Save
More
Than
$10
Million
--
Board
of Internal Economy (BOIE) Must Have Consensus To
Change Rules, And
Should Hold Public Meetings To Discuss
"10-Percenter" and All Issues
(March 15, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Democracy
Watch
Appeals
Federal
Court
Ruling
That
Legalized
Conservative
Prime
Minister
Harper's
September
2008
Snap
Federal
Election
Call
Despite
Fixed-Election-Date
Law
--
Case Will Be Heard By Federal Court
of Appeal on May 25, 2010 -- Group Calls on PM
Harper To Promise
Not To Call Another Snap Election (March
10, 2010)
- NEWS RELEASE: Canadian
Federal
Government
Far
From
Owning
the
Podium
on
Democracy
and
Government
Accountability -- Drops to 11th in Global
Integrity's New Annual Report -- Another
Accountability Act Needed
(March 1, 2010)
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Federal Conservatives
broke their
promise to make nomination races democratic, but
opposition parties and
MPs also to blame for control by party leaders of MPs
(Hill Times,
February 22, 2010 and National
Post, February 17, 2010)
- RADIO PIECE: Examination
of
the
federal
Conservatives'
democratic
reform
and
accountability
record
featuring
Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher (CBC
Radio's The Current Part 3, February 4, 2010 or click
here)
-- To see
Democracy
Watch's
Report Card
on the Conservatives' record, click
here
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ontario
judges
hold
unjustifiably
secret
training
session
on
trial
management
issues (Toronto
Star,
February 4, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: As
Democracy
Watch
has
detailed
in
many
reports
over
the
past
16
years,
no
ruling
party,
nor
Parliament
overall,
has
done
enough
to
reduce
the
federal
government's
democratic
deficit (Lawrence Martin's column, Globe and Mail,
January 28, 2010)
-- To see some
of Democracy
Watch's recent reports, click
here
- YouTUBE VIDEO: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator
Duff
Conacher's
speech
at
the
anti-prorogation
of
Parliament
rally
in
Toronto (January 23, 2010 -- NOTE: the speech
starts at the 2:45 minute mark of the video, and ends at
the 6 minute
mark of the video)
- OP-ED: Prorogation
of
Parliament
and
snap
elections
avoid
government
accountability
in
many
unreported
ways
and
must
be
prohibited
unless
specific
conditions
are
met -- other changes
needed
to ensure ongoing accountability
(Waterloo
Region Record, Guelph Mercury
and Sudbury Star,
January 13,
2010, Toronto Star
and Hill Times,
January 18, 2010)
- RADIO INTERVIEW: Democracy
Watch
Coordinator Duff Conacher on Prime Minister Harper's
unjustifiable prorogation of Parliament and other
abuses of power
(January 12, 2010, Redeye Radio on rabble.ca)
- LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Conservative
Prime Minister Harper's arbitrary and undemocratic
shutting down of
Parliament offers him the opportunity to build a
consensus on Senate
reforms, instead of pushing his very questionable
reforms (Toronto
Star, January 8, 2010; Vancouver Sun,
January 9, 2010; Hill
Times, January 11, 2010)
- WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal
Parliamentary
Budget
Officer
(PBO)
will
use
his
clear
power
to
release
reports
while
Parliament
is
shut
down
--
As Democracy Watch
first pointed out, PBO would lose that power if made
into an Officer of
Parliament unless changes are made (Globe and Mail,
January 6, 2010)
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