Democracy Watch released a report on Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger’s “[…] negligently weak enforcement record and called on the Senate to reject her reappointment for a second 7-year term.” Democracy Watch Co-founder Duff Conacher commented, “Senators should not approve Commissioner Bélanger’s reappointment for a second term because of her negligently weak enforcement record, which MPs ignored … Read more
Democracy Watch released the final submission it recently filed with the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian politics, calling for key changes to close huge loopholes that allow for secret, undemocratic and unethical spending, fundraising, donations, loans, lobbying and disinformation campaigns by foreign “proxies,” and to strengthen enforcement and penalties. All of the submissions and the … Read more
Democracy Watch released a third policy paper as the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian Politics holds its last policy roundtable on political finance loopholes. Democracy Watch Co-founder Duff Conacher stated, “The only way to stop foreign big money from flowing into Canada’s political finance system is to stop big money donations and loans. As long as big money donations … Read more
Democracy Watch released another policy paper as the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian politics continues to hold policy roundtables on national security and anti-foreign interference enforcement systems. Democracy Watch Co-founder Duff Conacher emphasized, “Laws don’t enforce themselves, and unfortunately, the inquiry is so far largely ignoring that the ruling party Cabinet and opposition politicians choose their own anti-foreign … Read more
Democracy Watch released the policy paper it submitted to the Hogue Inquiry into foreign interference, calling for strong measures to “[…] stop disinformation, expanding on the many laws in Canada that already prohibit false claims.” Democracy Watch also called on the Inquiry to recommend strong measures to stop foreign interference in nomination and party leadership … Read more
Democracy Watch released the list of questions it has filed with the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian politics for participants in the Policy Phase roundtables that will be held this week. The questions highlight the “[…] loopholes and flaws in Canada’s election, political finance, lobbying and ethics rules, and weak enforcement systems.” Democracy Watch filed a 32-page submission in September … Read more
Democracy Watch issued a statement calling on Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger to “[…] stop hiding her rulings on nine violations of the Lobbying Act that she referred to the RCMP, and that the RCMP referred back to her after letting all the lobbyists off the hook […]” Co-founder of Democracy Watch Duff Conacher commented, “It’s shameful that the … Read more
Democracy Watch released its submission to the inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian politics. The 32-page submission calls on the inquiry to “broaden the scope of its examination this fall of whether Canada’s anti-foreign interference system is effective, and its witness list, to address all the loopholes and flaws in federal laws, and weak enforcement systems, that … Read more
Democracy Watch called for key steps to be taken to ensure full, independent, effective investigations into the allegations in the recent report by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) on CSIS intelligence reports that MPs and Senators have helped foreign governments interfere in Canadian politics, and to ensure public rulings on every … Read more
Democracy Watch called on MPs on the House Public Accounts Committee to ask RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme key questions about the RCMP’s investigation into the Trudeau Cabinet/SNC-Lavalin scandal when he testified on June 18. “The RCMP Commissioner still needs to answer several key questions because the evidence that has been disclosed so far shows that the RCMP … Read more
