Liberals vote against transparency for cash-for-access fundraisers

During the 2015 campaign, the Liberals made a big promise to Canadians that they would be a more open and transparent government.

Fast-forward to today, and we are now learning about cash-for-access fundraising events (over 80, in fact) that the Prime Minister and his Liberal Ministers have attended since taking office.  These events are attended by lobbyists, lawyers and other important groups who do business with the Government of Canada. The tickets prices are very expensive – meaning these people are paying thousands of dollars for exclusive access.

The Prime Minister and Liberal Ministers should not grant preferential access to certain people or special interest groups just because they pay up, which is why Conservatives delivered a motion in the House of Commons to grant the Ethics Commissioner the power to investigate these cash-for-access schemes.

When push came to shove however, the Liberals voted down this motion, which shockingly means the government can continue these cash-for-access fundraisers.

Just as they broke their promise of a “modest” deficit, they continue to break their open and transparent promise with each and every secret cash-for-access fundraising event.

Prime Minister Trudeau Needs to Hear From You

Since the release of the Liberal Government’s 2016 budget earlier this year, Canada’s economy has faced some significant challenges. Many sectors of the economy – particularly the oil and gas sector – are seeing huge job losses that are having a very negative effect on Canadian families.  And although the Liberals promised not to raise taxes on businesses or the middle class Canadians those businesses employ, that’s just exactly what they are doing.  From a new national Carbon Tax, to rolling back Tax-Free Savings Accounts, to eliminating tax credits for children’s fitness and arts activities, to cutting tax credits for student textbooks – this government insists on making life more expensive for families.

This is in contrast to the previous Conservative Government’s focus on keeping taxes low for all Canadian families. Thanks to our initiatives, the average family saved $6,600 every year but those savings continue to disappear as this government moves forward. This is no coincidence and we can’t afford another repeat this time around.

The Liberal Government needs to hear from you. In preparation for Budget 2017, I will be sending out a pre-budget survey to get your input. These surveys should be arriving in mailboxes across Provencher early in the new year and I encourage you to take a moment to fill it out and return it postage-free to my office. I will then forward your responses directly to the Prime Minister’s office.

Canadians deserve to have their voices heard, and for this government to take their feedback seriously.Pendant la campagne de 2015, les libéraux ont fait une grande promesse à la population canadienne : le gouvernement libéral serait plus ouvert et transparent que le précédent.

Et voilà maintenant que nous apprenons l’existence d’activités de financement donnant un accès privilégié en échange de dons (plus de 80, en fait) auxquelles le Premier ministre et ses ministres ont assisté depuis leur arrivée au pouvoir. À ces activités participent des lobbyistes, des avocats et d’autres groupes importants qui font affaire avec le gouvernement du Canada. Les billets coûtent très cher, à savoir que, les participants versent des milliers de dollars pour avoir un accès privilégié aux dirigeants du gouvernement.

Le Premier ministre et ses ministres ne devraient pas accorder un accès privilégié à certaines personnes ou à certains groupes d’intérêts, tout simplement parce qu’ils ont l’argent nécessaire pour assister à ce genre d’activités. C’est pourquoi les conservateurs ont adopté une motion à la Chambre des communes pour accorder au commissaire aux conflits d’intérêts et à l’éthique le pouvoir de faire enquête sur ces activités.

À l’heure de vérité, toutefois, les libéraux ont rejeté cette motion, ce qui signifie, ce qui est consternant, que le gouvernement peut continuer à organiser de telles activités.

Tout comme ils ont manqué à leur promesse de se limiter à un déficit « modeste », ils continuent de passer outre à leur promesse d’instituer un gouvernement ouvert et transparent à chaque nouvelle activité de financement donnant un accès privilégié en échange de dons.