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.”
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