January 18th, 2013
Mulcair: Conservative accountability long overdue
Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper demanding accountability.
January 17, 2013
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Block
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister:
I am writing to you with respect to the letter sent by your Minister of Finance, to the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on March 30, 2012, expressing support for Durham Radio Inc.’s application for a radio license.
Your guidelines, Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Ministers of State document, which is available on your website, clearly outlines what you expect of Ministers. The guidelines state that “ministers must not intervene, or appear to intervene, with tribunals on any matter requiring a decision in their quasi-judicial capacity, except as permitted by statute.”
That the application was unsuccessful hardly seems to count, when it comes to ethics there is no special award for attempted influence.
In 1994, heritage minister Michel Dupuy was shuffled out of Cabinet after it was discovered that he had written to the CRTC in support of a radio license application.
While in this case Dupuy argued that he had supported a fair hearing not the application itself, the same cannot be said about Flaherty’s explicit endorsement of the Durham station application. Your Reform Party colleagues at the time were very vocal in asking for his resignation.
Only two years later in 1996, Liberal Defence Minister David Collenette was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had written to the Immigration and Refugee Board on behalf of a constituent. Following the investigation into his actions and his resignation Mr Collenette stated “when you make an error of this nature, one has no other recourse”.
I further note that yesterday, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner wrote to your Minister of Finance and said “It is improper for you, as Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Greater Toronto Area, to have written a letter of support on behalf of a constituent to an administrative tribunal in relation to its decision making”. Surely this requires action on your part.
The Conservative Party promised over six years ago that “the time for accountability has arrived”, it’s time to close the gap between promises and reality. It’s time to take the first step by investigating the actions by Mr. Flaherty and start holding your ministers to account when they break the rules.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mulcair, MP
Leader of the Official Opposition