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10 political commandments

10 political commandments

Re Trudeau Seeks High Ground With Ethics Policy (June 18): Lawrence Martin’s catalogue of the Liberals’ proposed reforms suggests the time may be ripe for politicians to endorse principles of transparency and accountability by subscribing to 10 political commandments:

1. Reply substantively in Question Period;

2. Respond to access to information requests promptly; interpret redaction restrictions narrowly, not broadly;

3. Have government advertising vetted, by an independent group, for relevance and value to voters. Contracts should specify that the advertising is to be suspended during an election period with only time-sensitive matter permitted;

4. Abolish self-serving householder mailings;

5. Publish immediately upon receipt all publicly funded opinion polls and reports on focus groups;

6. Post expense claims and costs covered by others. Report all outside earnings;

7. Post a list of all communications with anyone outside government of a political or business nature;

8. Post names of individuals or affiliated groups making contributions to a party and its members totalling more than $1,000 a year;

9. Make the Parliamentary Budget Officer an Officer of Parliament;

10. Mandate Officers of Parliament to investigate suspected cases of inappropriate activity with power to issue subpoenas.

Michael G. Kelly, Ottawa