Democracy Watch released its study of political donations, loans and taxpayer-funded subsidies to the main federal parties from 2016-2022. The conclusions of the study are that to have fair, ethical and democratic federal elections and policy-making processes, the annual donation and loan limit should be lowered to $75. “Canada’s current undemocratic and unfair big money political … Read more
Democracy Watch released the records disclosed by the RCMP that explain how its Access to Information and Privacy Branch sent a misleading letter dated May 25, 2023, to Democracy Watch in response to its July 2022 Access to Information Act request. The letter contained incorrect information saying that the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and Liberal cabinet … Read more
Democracy Watch released the open letter it has sent to Interim Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein calling on him to disclose his assets and liabilities, and his consulting clients, and all the communications and records of communications he had with the Prime Minister’s Office and Privy Council Office during his appointment process for his six-month term that … Read more
Democracy Watch called on opposition parties to do everything they can to stop the Cabinet from renewing Interim Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein for another six-month term at the end of February or appointing him to a seven-year term as Ethics Commissioner. “Given Mr. von Finckenstein has one of the worst enforcement records of any ethics … Read more
Following up on Democracy Watch’s November 2023 Access to Information request for records of communications about the appointment of Konrad von Finckenstein as federal interim ethics commissioner, and about the appointment of the next full-term ethics commissioner, the Privy Council Office sent a letter claiming it needs a 165-day extension—from Dec. 21, 2023, to June 4, 2024—before it will disclose the records. “The … Read more
Democracy Watch released the 1,815 pages of records contained in 19 documents that the RCMP recently disclosed in response to it’s July 2022 Access to Information Act request for all records of the RCMP’s investigation of the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and cabinet officials obstructed justice by pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould … Read more
Democracy Watch released the letter it sent to the federal Ethics Commissioner’s office calling for an investigation and ruling on whether Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson (North Vancouver, B.C.) has violated the federal Conflict of Interest Act by participating in or trying to influence the Government of Canada’s decision about requesting an investigation by the International Joint … Read more
Democracy Watch called on the RCMP to explain how its Access to Information and Privacy Branch sent a letter dated May 25, 2023, to Democracy Watch that contained incorrect information. “The RCMP needs to disclose all the internal communications that led to their access to information branch not knowing at the end of May that their investigation unit … Read more
Democracy Watch released the response it received recently to its Access to Information Act (ATIA) filed with the RCMP on July 27, 2022. The RCMP’s response letter, dated May 25, 2023, confirms it is investigating the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.), former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, some members of their staff, and former Clerk of … Read more
Democracy Watch called on the Trudeau government to establish an actually independent, merit-based appointment process for all public inquiry commissioners, and all federal democratic good government watchdogs. “Like every Cabinet, the Trudeau Cabinet is in a conflict of interest when choosing inquiry commissioners and democratic good government watchdogs because those commissioners and watchdogs investigate and enforce … Read more
