Democracy Watch today issued an open letter urging federal party leaders to set aside partisan self-interest and pass key bills to close loopholes that “enable secret foreign interference in Canadian politics.” The letter warns that foreign proxies are allowed to secretly fundraise, campaign, lobby and spread disinformation while current enforcement systems remain ineffective. “The federal … Read more
Democracy Watch released its Report Card on the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party’s record since 2018 and the Ontario Parties’ 2022 Democracy and Accountability Platforms, awarding the Doug Ford Ontario government an overall F – the worst grade in 30 years. The report details 25 unethical and undemocratic actions, including a “dirty dozen” of secretive moves … Read more
Today, Democracy Watch released its analysis of 2021‑2024 donations, stating that Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party is “[…]far more reliant on wealthy donors than the Liberals, NDP and Greens—with 71 per cent of its donations coming from donors who gave $1,000 or more, compared to 48 per cent for the Liberals, 28 per cent for the … Read more
Democracy Watch (DW) released a second set of internal RCMP records on its investigation into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s alleged obstruction of justice in the SNC-Lavalin affair, accusing the RCMP of a weak and incomplete probe. DW states that the records reveal that the RCMP withheld key testimony from former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould and … Read more
Democracy Watch is intervening in a Federal Court hearing challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s January 6 prorogation of Parliament, arguing it was unjustifiable and served Liberal Party interests. The watchdog group is urging the court to both reject Trudeau’s move and establish new restrictions on the Prime Minister’s power to prorogue in the future, preventing … Read more
Democracy Watch issued a statement calling the recommendations set out in the final report of the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian politics “incomplete, mostly a cover-up, and much too weak to stop interference because they ignore a ‘dirty dozen’ loopholes that make secret, unethical and undemocratic foreign interference activities easy to get away with, and also … Read more
Democracy Watch announced that it will pursue a court challenge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s (Papineau, Que.) request to prorogue Parliament. Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher commented, “Hopefully, the courts will take this opportunity to restrict this kind of abuse of power from happening in the future by issuing a ruling that makes it clear what … Read more
Democracy Watch called on all parties to “[…] set aside their partisan self-interest and, before a prorogation or federal election happens, act in the public interest by enacting the long-delayed bill that strengthens federal whistleblower protection in key ways, and by enacting bills after the Hogue Inquiry reports to close all the huge loopholes that … Read more
Democracy Watch issued a statement, calling on “[…]Trudeau Liberals to keep all five of their 2021 election promises to increase bank accountability in Canada. The Liberals have only partially kept two of their five election promises, and they have broken their other three promises, leaving Canadians still vulnerable to bank gouging, discrimination and other abuses.” Democracy Watch … Read more
Democracy Watch released the submission it filed with the House Procedure and House Affairs Committee, calling for 20 key changes to Bill C-65 aimed at addressing “some of the huge loopholes in Canada’s election law that allow for secret, undemocratic and unethical spending, fundraising, donations, loans, and disinformation campaigns by foreign ‘proxies’. Many of these loopholes can … Read more
