Voter Rights Campaign 2011

NEWS RELEASE: Elections Canada refuses to clarify key measures in federal elections law - Democracy Watch again calls for clarification of recent flawed ruling (August 28, 2012)
Rabble.ca re: NEWS RELEASE: Ontario by-election dates bad for voter turnout - Changes needed to election timing, voting system, and voter rights and advertising to increase voter turnout... (August 22, 2012) --To see related Rabble.ca piece, click here.
Windsor Star re: NEWS RELEASE: Ontario by-election dates bad for voter turnout - Changes needed to election timing, voting system, and voter rights and advertising to increase voter turnout... (August 22, 2012) -- To see related Windsor Star piece, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Ontario by-election dates bad for voter turnout - Honesty-in-Politics law and change to fixed election dates among key changes needed to increase turnout (August 22, 2012)
Winnipeg Free Press re: NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch calls for clarification on recent flawed interpretation of Canada Elections Act by Commissioner of Canada Elections (August 14, 2012) -- To see related Winnipeg Free Press piece, click here
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Quebec election timing is unfair and undemocratic - Honesty-in-Politics law and fixed election dates among key changes needed (The Hill Times, August 17, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: CBC Inside Politics Blog re: NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch calls for clarification on recent flawed interpretation of Canada Elections Act by Commissioner of Canada Elections (August 16, 2012) -- To see related Inside Politics piece, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Is online voting the way of the future? Democracy Watch believes other key steps are needed before online voting is implemented (Lethbridge Herald, August 16, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Quebec election date unfair and undemocratic -- bad timing will likely result in low voter turnout (August 16, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Democracy Watch calls for clarification on recent flawed interpretation of Canada Elections Act by Commissioner of Canada Elections (August 14, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Public has clear right to know what political staffers are doing and what power they have (The Epoch Times, August 6, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections Canada needs new powers to clean up election system, but has an enforcement problem (The Hill Timest, August 6, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada needs new powers to clean up election system, and has an enforcement problem (The Hill Times, July 30, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada faces serious questions about its enforcement system -- must prove it has been enforcing law and holding fair elections by disclosing rulings in 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997 (The Hill Times, July 23, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections bodies should acknowledge weakness in systems, not ignore it (The Hill Times, July 23, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Prime Minister Harper's senior adviser takes government relations job with Air Canada, raising serious questions about violations of federal ethics and lobbying laws (Globe and Mail, July 20, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Bennett’s Law: Meaningful consultation = saying + listening (iPolitics, July 17, 2012)
CBC Inside Politics Blog re: NEWS RELEASE: Ruling by Commissioner of Canada Elections much too narrowly interprets key Canada Elections Act measures that prohibit influence of voters by foreigners, and uses invalid excuses for not investigating (July 12, 2012) -- To see related Inside Politics piece, click here
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections Canada and others should clean up problems, not defend them (National Post and Edmonton Journal, July 12, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Conservative MP's budget concerns, and solutions (iPolitics.ca, May 24, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Alberta should tighten robocall rules and limit information parties can tell voters (Calgary Herald, May 2, 2012)
TV PIECE:Federal Conservative s pending scandals show need for stronger rules, and enforcement (CBC's The National, April 29, 2012)
TV PIECE: Federal Conservative spending scandals show clear need for strong rules, enforcement, and penalties (CTV's Power Play, April 25, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Albertans should not be surprised at low voter turnout in provincial election: Voting system, failure of Elections Alberta to inform voters of right to decline their ballot likely reasons for turnout (April 25, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives end their five-year sham by cutting funding to secretariat of non-existent Public Appointments Commission (April 19, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives' Open Government Action Plan fails to fulfill Open Government Partnership (OGP) membership requirements -- fails to commit to strengthening access-to-information, ethics, lobbying, political finance, financial administration, public consultation and whistleblower protection laws and enforcement (April 17, 2012) -- To see related Canadian Press wire article, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Elections Canada keeps rulings secret on 2,982 complaints since 1997 -- Federal politicians continue to fail to require disclosure of key information to ensure the Canada Elections Act is enforced fairly and effectively (April 16, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives' Open Government Partnership Action Plan is only an open data plan, not a plan for open, ethical government (GlobalNews.ca and 18 other media outlets (all publishing Canadian Press wire article), April 12, 2012) -- To see related news release, click here
OP-ED: Fighter jet spending scandal yet another example of why good government watchdogs must disclose identity of wrongdoers and be given power to penalize them (HuffingtonPost.ca and Rabble.ca, April 4, 2012, and in Vancouver Sun and Regina Leader Post, April 9, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections Canada discloses some information about robocall complaints from 2011 election, but must still disclose its rulings on more than 2,280 complaints it received since 2004, and elections law must still be changed (Rabble.ca, March 29, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections Canada takes some positive steps, but must still disclose its rulings on more than 2,280 complaints it received since 2004, and elections law must still be changed (Rabble.ca, March 16, 2012, Epoch Times, March 24, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Bill giving Elections Canada more powers and making false election phone calls essentially impossible still needs to be passed, and Elections Canada must still disclose its rulings on more than 2,280 complaints it received since 2004 (Winnipeg Free Press, March 14, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: House of Commons adopts Democracy Watch's proposal to give Elections Canada more investigation powers, and to make false election phone calls impossible, but law still needs to be changed (Toronto Star, March 13-14, 2012)
TV PIECE: Elections Canada must disclose its rulings on 2,284 past complaints, and all it future rulings, to give Canadians assurance they are enforcing the law properly and effectively (CBC TV's The National feature piece, March 7, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Elections Canada must disclose its rulings on 2,284 complaints since 2004, and all its future rulings, to prove that it enforces the federal election law properly and effectively -- Canada Elections Act must be changed to make anonymous phone calls to voters illegal and impossible (March 6, 2012)
OP-ED: Democracy Watch, and others, tried to get Elections Canada to fully investigate and properly rule on 2008 election robocall fraud (Ottawa Citizen, March 5, 2012)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Elections Canada must disclose details about complaints and its rulings on more than 2,280 complaints it received since 2004 (Globe and Mail, February 29, 2012, Vancouver Sun and Epoch Times, March 3, 2012, and Hill Times, March 5, 2012)
TV PIECE re: Elections Canada must disclose details about its rulings on all past complaints, and current robocall complaints (Global News National, March 2, 2012)
EDITORIAL: Federal elections law must be changed to make anonymous phone calls during elections illegal (Winnipeg Free Press, March 2, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada must disclose details of how it has ruled on 2,284 complaints it has received since 2004 (Maclean's magazine, March 2, 2012)
EDITORIAL: Elections Canada must come clean on its past record of investigating and ruling on more than 2,280 complaints (Toronto Star, March 1-2, 2012) -- To see related Toronto Star article, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada has more than 2,280 other past investigations to answer questions above, not just current robocall fraud investigation (CBC.ca, March 1, 2012) -- To see related Yahoo.com article, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Robocall election fraud tactic was tried first in 2008 federal election in B.C. riding, and Elections Canada should re-open investigation (Georgia Straight, March 1, 2012)
RADIO INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch board member Duff Conacher on federal election robocall fraud situation, and ongoing problems with Elections Canada and other good government watchdog agencies (CBC Radio's The Current show, March 1, 2012)
RADIO INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Tyler Sommers on federal election robocall fraud situation and ongoing problems with Elections Canada (CBC Radio's As it Happens show, February 29, 2012)
TV INTERVIEW: Democracy Watch Coordinator Tyler Sommers on federal election robocall fraud situation and ongoing problems with Elections Canada (Sun News Network, February 29, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada has more than 2,280 other past investigations to answer questions about, not just current robocall fraud investigation (Canada.com, GlobalNews.ca and 7 Postmedia News newspapers across Canada, February 28, 2012) -- To see related Global News video and article, click here -- To see related news release, click here
OP-ED: Spending scandal, and many other recent scandals, show clear need for Real Federal Accountability Act to clean up Canadian government (Hill Times, February 20, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal fixed-election date measures too weak to restrict Prime Minister from calling snap election (iPolitics.ca, February 10, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: MPs must work together to make changes to restrict power of party leaders (Canada.com and 11 Postmedia News newspapers across Canada, January 31, 2012)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ontario Liberals being undemocratic and secretive in budgeting process, unlike minority government should be (CBC.ca and 18 other media outlets across Canada, all publishing CanadianPress.com wire article, January 27, 2012 -- See article also on GlobalNews.ca)
NEWS RELEASE: Five years after requirements became law, has Treasury Board ensured that all federal government institutions provide legally-required whistleblower protection? (January 26, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives must commit to strengthening access-to-information, ethics, lobbying, political finance, financial administration, public consultation and whistleblower protection laws and enforcement to fulfill their international Open Government Partnership (OGP) membership requirements (January 17, 2012)
NEWS RELEASE: New federal Integrity Commissioner misleads on CBC TV about his past statement that applying for job while in Interim Commissioner position created conflict for him (December 22, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Alberta Premier refuses to disclose details of Conservative Party payments to her -- loopholes in laws that allow for secrecy must be closed (Calgary Herald and 2 other PostMedia newspapers, December 22, 2011)
TV INTERVIEW: New Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion misleads about past statements about ethics applying for job, and tries to excuse his very questionable record (CBC's Power and Politics show, December 21, 2011) -- To see related CBC.ca article, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Parliament watchdogs (except Ethics Commissioner) echo Democracy Watch's call for more accountability for the watchdogs (Ottawa Citizen, December 20-21, 2011) -- To see related article, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Groups silenced, former integrity officer ignored as whistleblower watchdog appointment is rammed through committee -- Groups call on opposition MPs and Conservative MPs with integrity to vote against appointment in House vote (December 14, 2011) -- To see related CBC.ca article, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Groups call for 10 questions to be answered about Government’s plan to appoint toothless whistleblower watchdog (December 13, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives' Accountability and Democratic Reform Record Gets An "F" For Breaking Many Promises and Practising Politics As Usual (December 12, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Whistleblower watchdog nomination signals continued retreat by government from transparency and accountability promises -- Groups call on opposition parties to ensure, through filibuster if needed, they testify at committee before Conservatives ram appointment through (December 8, 2011) -- To see related CBC.ca article, click here -- To see related Globe and Mail article, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Conservatives break all of their international Open Government Partnership commitments by failing to consult with Canadians about their draft action plan before meeting in Brazil this week (December 5, 2011) -- To see related CBC.ca article, click here
OP-ED: Elections Canada makes one ruling public, but keeps more than 2,280 other rulings secret (Rabble.ca on November 11, 2011, Tyee.ca and StraightGoods.ca on November 16, 2011, TheMarkNews.com on November 18, 2011, and in the Hill Times on November 21, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Changing voting system, requiring honesty in politics and accountability are best ways to increase voter turnout, not electronic voting (CBC.ca and three other media outlets (all publishing Canadian Press wire article), November 9, 2011) -- To see related news release, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Elections Canada's rulings secret on 2,284 complaints since 2004 -- Federal politicians continue to fail to ensure key good government watchdogs are doing their jobs properly (November 8, 2011) -- To see related Winnipeg Free Press article, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal MPs have failed to use their power to ensure effective examination of government budgets (GlobalNews.ca, October 14, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Ontarians should not be surprised at record low voter turnout in provincial election (October 7, 2011) -- To see related CBC.ca article, click here
RADIO INTERVIEW: Founding Director Duff Conacher on why no one should be surprised that voter turnout was lower in the Ontario provincial election (CBC Radio Toronto's Here and Now show, October 7, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Green Party receives D- best grade of bad overall grades in Report Card on Ontario Parties' Good Government Platforms -- Conservatives receive an E, NDP an F and Liberals an Incomplete (September 30, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ontario voters hurt by too early fixed election date, voting system, and Elections Ontario's failure to inform about right to decline ballot (CTV.ca, September 11, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: NDP and Liberals could hold first-ever democratic leadership races for any federal party -- Perfect time to change the law for all party leadership races (September 8, 2011) -- To see related CanadianPress.com article which ran on CTV.ca and in 21 other media outlets across Canada, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Early October federal and provincial fixed voting days shut out people with kids, and university and college students (August 31, 2011) -- To see related Canadian Press wire article, published by GlobalNews.ca and 19 other media outlets across Canada, click here
NEWS RELEASE: Elections Ontario continues to fail to inform voters of their full voting rights -- Information and ads during election campaign must have key messages to encourage voter turnout (August 24, 2011) -- To see Ottawa Citizen article, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Election system reform, and honesty-in-politics law, would help increase voter turnout (Canada.com, GlobalNews.ca and 17 PostMedia News newspapers across Canada, July 5-6, 2011)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Inquiries laws must be changed to ensure all questionable government actions are investigated fully, fairly and impartially (Ottawa Citizen and Canada.com, June 27, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Ontario's election rules allow provincial party leaders to choose candidates and cancel riding association votes (Vaughn Today, June 29, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Five years after requirements became law, has Treasury Board ensured that all federal government institutions provide legally-required whistleblower protection? (June 21, 2011)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Abolishing the Senate is the easiest, most workable, and most democratic change to make (Ottawa Citizen, June 21, 2011, iPolitics.ca, June 22, 2011, Canada.com and National Post and Globe and Mail, June 23, 2011, Guelph Mercury and Winnipeg Free Press, June 24, 2011, and the Hill Times, July 4, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson continues to try to cover up her negligently weak enforcement record (CTV.ca and 11 media outlets across Canada (all publishing CanadianPress.com article), June 16, 2011)
TV INTERVIEW: Federal Conservatives misled Parliament and public on G8/G20 spending in Minister Tony Clement's riding, now misleading again (CTV News Channel, June 9, 2011 (See interview by clicking link in box on right-hand of page))
WEBSITE ARTICLE: The proposed budgets of Ontario's city police forces must be reviewed in public (Hamilton Spectator, June 4, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: New Brunswick's provincial Auditor General must review questionable pension awards, and cancel them if they broke the rules (CanadaEast.com, Daily Gleaner, Times and Transcript, Telegraph Journal, June 2, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Prime Minister Harper makes undemocratic move in Senate appointments (Canada.com, Vancouver Sun, Brandon Sun (Barbara Yaffe's column), May 31-June 2, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives continue to break their 2006 promise to establish an independent Public Appointments Commission to end patronage and cronyism (Canada.com, GlobalNews.ca, IPolitics.ca, and 8 PostMedia News newspapers across Canada, May 31, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Alberta Conservative Party leadership candidate Ted Morton's democratic reform proposals are too little to make provincial government democratic and accountable (Canada.com, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, May 26-27, 2011)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Canada only 14th out of 34 countries in OECD Governance rankings (TheTyee.ca, May 24, 2011, Toronto Star, May 26, 2011)
OP-ED: DemocracyWatch questions whether Prime Minister Harper's Senate appointments were pre-arranged, which would raise legal issues (TheMarkNews.com, Ottawa Citizen, May 19-20, 2011) -- To see Vancouver Province editorial endorsing call for investigation, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Given his vague law and past broken promises, it is very unclear whether Prime Minister Harper will comply with fixed election date of October 19, 2015 (Canada.com, GlobalNews.ca, and 20 Postmedia News newspapers and TV stations across Canada, May 19-20, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch questions whether Prime Minister Harper's Senate appointments were pre-arranged with two senators, which would raise legal issues (CTV.ca and 23 other media outlets across Canada (all publishing CanadianPress.com wire article), May 18-19, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Elections Canada has more than 1,300 complaints they have not ruled on publicly from 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections -- must rule publicly on all of them and also on 2011 election complaints (Hill Times, May 16, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: City of Montreal's system fails completely to guarantee whistleblower protection (Montreal Gazette, May 10, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Global Integrity Report lowers Canadian federal government's score from 80 to 75 -- Weak enforcement of Accountability Act's loophole-filled rules the main reason for drop in democracy rating (May 4, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Green Party receives B- best grade of bad overall grades in Report Card on Federal Parties' Good Government Platforms, Bloc second with C-, Conservatives, Liberals and NDP all receive F (April 28, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal political parties largely ignore solutions to low voter turnout -- voters should at least spoil their ballot to show their concern (Epoch Times, April 21, 2011)
OP-ED: We can have fixed election dates most of the time, and that is good (Published in letter form in the Globe and Mail, April 1, 2011)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: All parties with two percent or more support should be in election debates, and Elections Canada should run them (National Post, Canada.com, Montreal Gazette, March 31-April 1, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal parties all failed voters by not passing Bill C-12 before election to add new ridings to correct huge distortions (North Shore News, April 1, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: As Democracy Watch has pointed out for years, Public Service Commission calls on Conservatives to keep their 2006 promise to establish Public Appointments Commission (Globe and Mail (and three other media outlets) all publishing CanadianPress.com article, March 22, 2011) -- See article also here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Loopholes in accountability rules mean senators who violate laws can stay in the Senate (Canada.com, GlobalNews.ca and 18 other Postmedia/Global news outlets across Canada, March 17, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Alliance of more than 30 citizen groups calls on Auditor General to audit Integrity Commissioner's $500,000 payoff -- Auditor General should also audit entire government to expose other similar payoffs (March 14, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Alliance of more than 30 citizen groups calls for Integrity Commissioner's severance pay package to be cancelled -- Other commissioners must also be audited by committees and Auditor General (March 7, 2011) -- To see related Globe and Mail article, click here and Join the Facebook group
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Conservatives continue to break their 2006 election promise to establish independent Public Appointments Commission to stop patronage and cronyism (Canada.com, GlobalTV.ca, and 8 other PostMedia outlets across Canada, March 3, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal Ethics. Lobbying and Integrity (whistleblower protection) commissioners are all ineffective lapdogs (Vancouver Sun (Barbara Yaffe's column), March 2, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch calls on B.C. and other six provinces and Northwest Territories to change their fixed election date laws to require an election soon after ruling party leader resigns (Kelowna News, March 1, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Federal Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd likely sitting on at least 100 cases -- and has only ruled publicly on two cases in past three year -- Auditor General must audit -- Commissioner has worse disclosure record than disgraced former Integrity Commissioner, and equally bad enforcement record (February 23, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Nova Scotia government's Auditor General should examine spending by politicians in the past, and so should federal Auditor General (Metro newspapers across Canada, February 15-16, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: At Democracy Watch's suggestion, House committee gets disclosure of former Integrity Commissioner's record of dealing with complaints (CBC.ca Inside Politics Blog, February 8, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Tens of thousands of hits on CoffeeParty.ca movement site in first week (February 4, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Democracy Watch's CoffeeParty.ca movement points out flaws in Canada's democracy, and need for changes (Lawrence Martin's column, Globe and Mail, February 1, 2011)
NEWS RELEASE: Thousands visit CoffeeParty.ca in first day of movement (January 28, 2011)
LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR: Prime Minister Harper misleads Canadians again -- Conservatives broke most of their democratic reform and government accountability promises (Ottawa Citizen, January 25, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Supreme Court of Canada confirms that federal Conservatives broke their 2006 election promise to pass fixed election date law (Canada.com, National Post and 23 other PostMedia and Global TV media outlets across Canada, January 20-21, 2011) -- To see news release about the case, click here
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Changes needed to federal law to ensure that government officials who do wrong and then resign or retire can be penalized (Hill Times, January 17, 2011)
WEBSITE ARTICLE: Federal politicians must choose strong, competent next Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (Hill Times, January 10, 2011)