Democracy Watch called for democratic changes to Ontario’s election system in response to low voter turnout in the recent provincial by-elections. The group said that voter turnout will increase if the voting system is changed, an honesty-in-politics law is passed, by-election and election dates are fixed for late fall or early spring, and if Elections … Read more
Democracy Watch announced that it will file complaints with every provincial and territorial ethics/integrity commissioner about the benefits every premier is receiving from various corporations who are sponsoring the Council of the Federation meeting, and will also ask the police to investigate as the premiers are directly selling access to themselves at the meeting, given … Read more
Democracy Watch announced a satirical campaign calling on all Canadians to sign a petition to elect Stephen Colbert as King of Canada. The goal is to rally at least 100,000 Canadians to visit www.colbertforking.ca, sign a petition and persuade Stephen Colbert to come to Ottawa later this summer to be crowned the King of Canada … Read more
Democracy Watch said it has released the response from the Prime Minister’s Office/Privy Council Office that dodges and delays responding to the Access to Information Act request for the number of times federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has contacted the PMO/PCO since beginning her job in July 2007. Democracy Watch also released the complaint it … Read more
Democracy Watch set out the details of why it believes Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson should find Nigel Wright guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act for making the secret $90,000 payment to erstwhile Conservative Prince Edward Island Senator Michael Duffy, and why Senate Ethics Officer Lyse Ricard should find Duffy guilty of violating the … Read more
Democracy Watch launched a national letter-writing campaign calling on politicians from all parties across Canada to stop playing games and take immediate action to change the Constitution to shut down the Senate. More information is available online. Call 613-241-5179.
Democracy Watch released federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson’s refusal to investigate yet another clear case – Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) helping Peter Penashue with a funding announcement and a by-election call while Elections Canada is investigating Penashue’s last election campaign — and called for key changes to ensure effective ethics enforcement in … Read more
Democracy Watch renewed its call for a public inquiry into Elections Canada following a recent report highlighting major systemic issues with the 2011 federal election. The report adds to the many reasons for a full investigation, and Democracy Watch has already filed a complaint with the federal information commissioner because the commissioner of Canada Elections … Read more
Democracy Watch and the Government Ethics Coalition set out ten reasons Canadians should be concerned about the current review of federal ethics rules by the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, and proposed 30 key changes to the rules, enforcement and penalties needed to have ethical federal politics. More information is available … Read more
Democracy Watch said its online counter shows that the federal Conservatives have now violated for seven months Parliament’s deadline for introducing a bill to restrict election fraud robocalls and strengthen election law enforcement, including delaying the bill again the week of April 18. More than 68,000 messages have been sent through Democracy Watch’s robocall law … Read more
