“I have reviewed research by Democracy Watch that raises serious questions about whether a breach of ethics rules has occurred regarding meetings between Rahim Jaffer and various representatives of the Conservative government on behalf of various companies in 2009 and 2010,” said May. “The research suggests that the representatives of the Conservative government gave preferential treatment to certain companies and people represented by Mr. Jaffer. This needs to be investigated fully.”

Democracy Watch’s research is available online at: http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/jaffer-documents.pdf.

May’s letter states:  “To have any effect at all on ethical standards in government decision-making processes, which is the purpose of the Act, giving someone an advantage must be interpreted to include making any decision that gives them an advantage, including decisions to communicate with them more directly and with more priority than one communicates with anyone else in a similar position, and granting or arranging meetings with them with more priority than one meets with anyone else in a similar position.”

Jaffer is a former Conservative Member of Parliament, who represented Edmonton-Strathcona until 2008 when he lost the seat to New Democrat Linda Duncan.  He has been the subject of repeated controversies, including a fake radio interview where it was revealed that an aide was impersonating him and special treatment after being charged with drunk driving and possession of cocaine.

“It is evident that Mr. Jaffer was allowed to use government and parliamentary resources and office space for his business activities, which is a breach of ethics,” said May.

Democracy Watch’s opinion is that there is clear evidence that gives rise to a reasonable belief that David Pierce, Doug Maley, Brian Jean, Sébastian Togneri, and Helena Guergis provided preferential treatment to people and organizations represented by Rahim Jaffer because these people and organizations were represented by Mr. Jaffer.

“Democracy Watch prepared exhaustive research pointing out multiple breaches of the Conflict of Interest Act by Conservative government representatives and sent it to the Ethics Commissioner in May, 2010, and these breaches should finally be fully investigated by the Ethics Commissioner,” said May. “I am submitting this complaint in part as an attempt to expose and rein in a majority government that seems determined to ignore the established laws, rules, and traditions of our democracy.  The list of scandals is too long to tolerate.”

The post May Submits Letter of Complaint to Ethics Commissioner appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May is reviving an old conflict-of-interest complaint against former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, calling for an investigation into whether business meetings he arranged with several Conservative government representatives – as with Industry Minister Christian Paradis – violated the ethics code.

May submitted a detailed and direct letter to Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson on Monday, naming MPs and staffers David Pierce, Doug Maley, Brian Jean, Sébastian Togneri and Helena Guergis as people who provided special treatment to Jaffer because of his former MP status. In it, she reminds Dawson that this issue was brought to her attention by Democracy Watch in May 2010, but was not ruled on.

Unlike Democracy Watch, May is owed a written response because she is a Member of Parliament. The Green Party leader asked for a prompt response this time around because what Democracy Watch found raises “serious questions.”

View the full original article >>

The post Rahim Jaffer meetings targeted in Green Party’s ethics complaint appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech.

 [qJDUwQ5w1QQ]

At present we need to strengthen the investigative capabilities of Elections Canada. However, I have a question that follows on the excellent motion by the NDP. What does my colleague think about the actual accountability of Elections Canada? The NGO Democracy Watch says that there are plenty of investigations, but that afterward there is not much information about the reasons, results and decisions of Elections Canada.

Élaine Michaud: Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent question, which takes this whole matter to another level.

I think that, with more extensive investigative capabilities to gather more information, it will subsequently be easier for Elections Canada to issue results and to follow up on investigations. It is for this reason that it is important to extend Elections Canada’s powers, so that it can seek out the necessary documents and ensure that they are not hidden and shelved and that any evidence of fraud does not disappear.

The post Opposition Motion – Canada Elections Act (C) appeared first on Elizabeth May.

[8ZG9b6S6hW0]

I wonder if the bill has been costed. We are considering creating a new office within the federal government. I imagine the bill speaks to the expense accounts of that office and someone with the title financial literacy leader.

Have we examined as a House whether the goals of the bill could be better accomplished through sufficient support to groups like the Consumers’ Association of Canada or Democracy Watch? They have done a lot of good work in making Canadians aware of their banking processes.

Kevin Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, the government has not provided Parliament with a plan regarding Bill C-28. We do not know how much it is going to cost. In regard to the financial literacy leader, we need to know what sort of resources the government is prepared to allocate to the position.

As my NDP colleague mentioned, we have to be excused for not just buying into everything that the government is trying to sell with this legislation. It is one thing to say here is a bill but it is another thing to put some teeth in it. We are not convinced that there is a solid commitment to having a well financed office that would produce the desired outcome. We recognize how critically important the issue of financial literacy is. It is an important file. Young people need to be more involved in the financial environment. The benefits far outweigh any sort of potential costs that might be incurred in making sure that we do it right and that the federal government plays a leadership role.

The post Financial Literacy Leader Act (Bill C-28) appeared first on Elizabeth May.