Hello,
Set out below is the new Action Alert from Democracy Watch
about the historic opportunity you now have to support the 1st-ever
court case challenging the ethics of federal politicians and the
federal ethics enforcement system.
If this court case succeeds, Jean Chr�tien, Paul Martin, John
Manley, Allan Rock, Sheila Copps and other federal politicians, along
with a dozen high-powered corporate lobbyists and corporations, will
all be found guilty of violating ethics rules. In addition, the
federal government will be forced to set up an independent ethics
enforcement system.
Also in the Action Alert is information about how you can
support the campaign to strengthen and pass Bill C-34 to ensure
Canada has an strong, effectively enforced federal ethics law,
including strong whistleblower protection.
I hope you will lend your support to this 1st-ever court
case, and to winning strong ethics enforcement for federal
politicians, lobbyists, and public servants.
Sincerely,
Duff Conacher, Coordinator
Democracy Watch
P.S. Democracy Watch needs your support as the only citizen group in
Canada working on government ethics and money in politics issues.
HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY FOR AN ETHICAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
SUPPORT 1ST-EVER COURT CASE and
TELL PARLIAMENT IT'S TIME FOR A STRONG ETHICS LAW!
Action Alert from Democracy Watch re:
Enforcement of Federal Ethics Rules
BACKGROUND ON 1ST-EVER FEDERAL ETHICS COURT CASE
Democracy Watch has launched the 1st-ever court case
challenging rulings by the federal Ethics Counsellor Howard Wilson.
The Ethics Counsellor's four rulings responded to complaints filed by
Democracy Watch about corporate lobbyists working for or donating to,
and at the same time lobbying, Cabinet ministers and other
politicians. Democracy Watch believes that such relationships put
the politicians in a conflict of interest that violates federal
ethics rules.
The Ethics Counsellor has no independence from the Prime
Minister, and has gone so far as to claim that the only way a
lobbyist could put a politician in a conflict of interest is if the
lobbyist enslaved the politician!
If this court case succeeds, Jean Chr�tien, Paul Martin, John
Manley, Allan Rock, Sheila Copps and a dozen high-powered corporate
lobbyists will all be found guilty of violating ethics rules, it will
become illegal for lobbyists to work for, fundraise for, or give
gifts to politicians. In addition, the federal government will be
forced to set up an independent ethics enforcement system.
Because of the high costs of court cases, your support is
needed to pursue this court challenge. Your support is also needed
for researching, filing, and pursuing many more ethics complaints
against federal and provincial politicians and lobbyists. Please
send your donation to the following address:
Democracy Watch (Ethics Court Cases)
P.O. Box 821, Stn. B
Ottawa, Canada
K1P 5P9
You can find more information about what you will receive if
you become a supporter on the following webpage:
www.dwatch.ca/camp/support.html
You can see a summary of the 1st-ever ethics court case on
the following webpage:
www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsMay2303.html
Thank you for your support of this 1st-ever ethics case, the
only effective step being taken in Canada to hold federal politicians
and lobbyists accountable for ethics rule violations, and to force
the federal government to set up an effective ethics enforcement
system.
BACKGROUND ON CAMPAIGN FOR STRONG FEDERAL ETHICS LAW
Prime Minister Chr�tien introduced in Parliament, finally,
draft proposals in Bill C-34 that include ethics rules for MPs and
Senators, and the creation of an independent, fully empowered Ethics
Commissioner to enforce ethics rules for Ministers, MPs and Senators.
However, the proposals are not as strong as needed to ensure
politicians act ethically, and do not do anything about enforcement
of ethics rules for public servants.
In addition, the federal government changed the Lobbyists
Registration Act in June 2003 to require more corporate lobbyists to
register, but the changes still leave key gaps in the law that allow
secret lobbying and unethical activities by lobbyists.
On both lobbying and ethics reforms, the federal government
has not heard from citizens or citizen groups enough to counter
resistance by politicians and lobbying by corporate lobbyists.
Canadians need to tell the government they want strong ethics and
lobbying rules, and strict enforcement of the rules (including
whistleblower protection).
You can see all the details about how you can help push to
strengthen Bill C-34, and ensure it is passed, on the following
webpage:
www.dwatch.ca/camp/actethic.htm(includes a sample
letter to send to your MP and the Prime Minister)
You can see all the information about the Government Ethics
Campaign on the following webpage:
www.dwatch.ca/camp/ethicdir.html
Thank you for your support for a strong, effectively enforced
federal ethics law, including strong whistleblower protection.
INFORMATION ABOUT DEMOCRACY WATCH'S ACTION ALERTS
Democracy Watch is sending this Alert to its Action Alert
email listserve, and will continue sending at most 1 Action Alert
every 1-2 months to this listserve.
If you do not want to receive Action Alerts from Democracy
Watch in the future, please unsubscribe from this listserve by
sending an email to the following email address:
[email protected] with only the following word in
the text of the message: unsubscribe
If you know someone who may not be receiving Democracy
Watch's Action Alerts through this listserve, please forward this
Action Alert to them, and let them know that they can subscribe to
Democracy Watch's Action Alert listserve by sending an email to the
following email address:
[email protected] with
only the following word in the text of the message: subscribe
You cannot post messages to this listserve, as Democracy
Watch does not have the staff time or resources to moderate the
listserve. Democracy Watch has set up the listserve to send out
Action Alerts about its campaigns.
For more information about Democracy Watch's 8 leading
campaigns for democratic reform, government accountability, and
corporate responsibility in Canada, or to contact Democracy Watch,
please view the Democracy Watch website at: http://www.dwatch.ca
Thank you.
Duff Conacher, Coordinator
Democracy Watch
P.S. You can find information at
www.dwatch.ca/camp/support.htmabout how to Become a
Supporter of Democracy Watch's 8 winning campaigns for democracy in
Canada. Your support is essential to winning key democratic,
government accountability, and corporate responsibility measures.
You can see details about how effective Democracy Watch has been in
winning key reforms over the past decade by viewing the following
webpage:
www.dwatch.ca/history.html
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