The Clock Ticks

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  Harper’s Crisis of Accountabilty Grows
  Source: Liberal Website
  February 17, 2006
  
  
  
  As the second week of Stephen Harper’s new government draws to a close, the Conservatives’ crisis of accountability has spiralled further out of control.
  
  The latest example of the Prime Minister’s accountability flip-flop is the appointment of former Conservative MP and campaign co-chair John Reynolds to the Privy Council. The title of privy councillor is normally held by cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries who advise the Governor General on classified government business.
  
  Mr. Reynolds now works as a “senior strategic advisor” to one of Canada’s top law firms. As a Privy councillor, this backroom insider will have access to classified cabinet documents, even though he is paid to give CEOs advice on how to lobby the federal government.
  
  Mr. Harper’s Accountability Act was the cornerstone of his election campaign. One of it key elements is to “crack down on the revolving door between ministers’ offices, the senior public service and the lobbying industry”. By appointing a lobbyist and close friend to the Privy Council, Prime Minister Harper has clearly violated his own Accountability Act.The ethics watchdog group Democracy Watch –which endorsed the Conservative accountability package during the election campaign- has now lashed out at Prime Minister Harper.
  
  Duff Conacher, co-ordinator of Democracy Watch, recently told the media: “Stephen Harper proved with some cabinet appointments that he is a hypocrite and, by failing to keep the pledge to close the loopholes in the ethics code, he showed that he is a liar.”
  
  Ethics watchdog groups and the Canadian people have good reason to be concerned about Mr. Harper’s increasingly unaccountable behaviour. After two weeks as Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has:
  
  - Appointed his unelected Quebec campaign co-chair Michael Fortier to the Senate and the Cabinet as Minister of Public Works, after campaigning for an elected senate;
  Overseen the appointment of Fred Loiselle, who was involved in an electoral fraud scandal in Quebec in 2000 as Mr. Fortier’s chief of staff;
  
  - Appointed Gordon O’Connor, a former lobbyist for the defence industry, as Minister of Defence;
  
  - Appointed the Liberal-elected MP David Emerson, as Minister of International Trade, despite his own party’s activism against floor-crossing in the House of Commons; and
  
  - Campaigned to strengthen the role of the Ethics Commissioner but refused to be interviewed by the Commissioner’s office for his role in the Gurmant Grewal taping affair.
  
  As each day goes by, the Conservative government grows more and more unaccountable. This outrageous behaviour may just be the reason why the Prime Minister is refusing to talk to the media.
  
  Mr. Harper, you can’t hide forever.