Democracy Watch responded to Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger‘s recent ruling on Democracy Watch’s May 26, 2016 complaint about the gifts of paid travel that various lobbying organizations have given to Parliamentarians since 2009. Bélanger ruled that, because the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons allows the gift of “sponsored travel” (section 15), as does the Ethics and Conflict … Read more
Democracy Watch released the letter it has sent to federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion, calling on him to ensure an independent ruling on the activities of former Clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch, board member of SNC-Lavalin since May 2017 and Vice Chair of Bank of Montreal since spring 2010, and former President and CEO of … Read more
Democracy Watch released the ruling it has received from the Federal Court in its case filed in January 2018. The case challenged the ruling in September 2017 by former Commissioner of Lobbying Karen Shepherd that the Aga Khan’s Bahamas trip gift to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) was legal. The ruling was issued on March 29, … Read more
Democracy Watch raised questions about federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s senior lawyer, Martine Richard. “The federal Ethics Commissioner’s office is tainted by bias in favour of the Trudeau Cabinet, and must delegate the investigation of the SNC-Lavalin scandal to a provincial ethics commissioner who is fully independent of any political party,” said Duff Conacher, … Read more
Democracy Watch raised questions about whether federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s senior lawyer, Martine Richard, who is the sister of Jolène Richard, who is married to Trudeau Cabinet minister Daniel LeBlanc. “The federal Ethics Commissioner’s office is tainted by bias in favour of the Trudeau Cabinet, and must delegate the investigation of the … Read more
Democracy Watch called on the media and House and Senate committees to ask former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick two questions that remain unanswered. “Michael Wernick must answer two key questions about whether he communicated in any way with the PM or the PM’s staff after his call with the Attorney General about SNC-Lavalin,” said … Read more
Democracy Watch called for key changes to make Canada’s big businesses and banks pay their fair share of taxes. “The Liberal budget again leaves loopholes and a too low tax rate that lets Canada’s big businesses and banks keep too much money for themselves, and key changes are needed to close the loopholes and match the … Read more
Democracy Watch released the letter it has sent to Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger requesting that she ensure an independent investigation and ruling on whether former Clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch violated the Lobbying Act and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct by failing to register as a lobbyist for SNC-Lavalin. “An independent investigation of Kevin Lynch’s communications with Trudeau Liberal … Read more
Democracy Watch released the second letter it has sent to federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion calling on him to delegate an expanded inquiry into everyone named by Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould at the House justice committee who may have tried to influence her to intervene and stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin by the … Read more
Democracy Watch released the letter it sent to federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion calling on him to delegate an inquiry into whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) or anyone in the PMO violated the federal government ethics law by trying to pressure then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould (Vancouver-Granville, B.C.) to intervene and stop the … Read more
