Is the "High Road" Closed to Politicians?

Cabinet Minister Bev Oda's recent lie to Parliament is just one more reason why an honesty-in-federal-politics law must be put in place.

The recent scandal involving Conservative Cabinet Minister Bev Oda is yet another signifier of the clear need for a law on honesty in federal politics. Such a law should apply to everyone and should be overseen by an independent, non-partisan watchdog agency such as the federal ethics commissioner.

A parliamentary process with the aim of penalizing Oda for her misleading statements is currently underway. If the Conservatives held the majority of seats in the House of Commons, they would have stopped this process.

With our current minority government, however, the process is tainted by partisanship because a Liberal Speaker of the House will decide if Oda is guilty, and opposition MPs will decide whether she will be penalized.

This process would not be happening if Oda had made her false statements outside of Parliament; MPs can penalize people for making misleading statements only if those statements are made before committees or in the House of Commons.

Last year, Industry Minister Tony Clement made misleading statements about the Conservatives’ decision to scrap the long-form census. However, because he made these statements outside of Parliament, there was no process through which to hold him accountable.

Dishonesty has long been rewarded in politics, as politicians often get away with making election promises that are false but that nevertheless serve to increase their voter support.

Many people agree with Toronto Star columnist Chantal H̩bert, who says that dishonesty must be accepted as a normal part of politics Рbut nothing could be further from the truth.

Politicians have passed many laws that demand honesty from Canadians. From welfare applicants to taxpayers to corporate executives, it is illegal for Canadians to lie, and high penalties are in place to discourage dishonesty.

If you want to become a Canadian citizen or wish to receive welfare or tax deductions, you better tell the truth. If corporate executives report false information in their financial statements, shareholders can sue. If a corporation is responsible for false advertisements and six Canadians file written complaints, the Competition Bureau must investigate. The same bureau has the power to fine such corporations and can require them to cancel or correct false ads.

It’s even illegal for anyone in Canada to make false claims about election candidates.

But when it comes to political candidates lying to voters, or to politicians and government officials misleading the public, almost anything goes. This is because the laws that are in place to prevent politicians from lying are vague, and enforcement agencies are often reluctant to act in such cases. In fact, in most parts of Canada it is illegal for candidates to make written pledges saying that they will take specific actions if elected.

Believe it or not, the current government’s so-called Federal Accountability Act (FAA) significantly decreases accountability by making it so that the honesty rule does not apply to the prime minister, cabinet ministers, ministerial staff, cabinet appointees, and senior government officials.

There are usually a few ridiculous reasons given for why honesty is not required in politics, and for why it is not necessary for politicians to be penalized when they mislead us.

Some argue that candidates should not be penalized for breaking promises because they cannot foresee the changes that might occur if they win an election. Under an honesty-in-politics law, politicians could be allowed to cite truly unforeseeable changes as a justifiable reason for breaking a promise.

Some say that if it became illegal for politicians to be dishonest then there would be a flood of complaints from people citing proof of continued dishonesty in the political arena. This is actually another reason such a law is needed; while there might be a lot of complaints initially, politicians would soon clean up their statements to avoid drawing further complaints.

Furthermore, if the conditions were right, complaints could be dealt with fairly quickly, easily, and inexpensively. First, honesty-in-politics laws must give the public the right to complain to ethics watchdog agencies. Second, those agencies must have the power to dismiss frivolous complaints and must be able to penalize misleaders by applying high personal fines. If these conditions were met, complaints would be easy to deal with – regardless of their numbers.

Finally, some make the highly speculative and patronizing claim that politicians and government officials can’t always be honest because the public couldn’t handle the truth. This incredibly undemocratic viewpoint assumes that politicians and officials have (for some unstated reason) some special mental capacity that allows them to be exposed to reality, while everyone else is able to survive only by living in fantasy bubbles that governments create for us.

If the individuals offering these highly questionable reasons were thinking at all about voter rights, they would realize that it is impossible to make an informed voting decision as long as candidates can get away with lying. No matter how closely voters study and compare candidate or party platforms and statements, if those platforms are built on lies or the statements untrue then voters have nothing of value on which to base their votes.

It is no wonder that the No. 1 reason non-voters give for failing to cast a ballot is lack of honesty in politics, or that dishonesty is voters’ top concern when it comes to government accountability.

Politicians need to be held accountable for their honesty just as the rest of Canada’s citizens are every day. It’s time for our political leaders to prove their worth by passing a strong honesty-in-politics law, giving voters a reason to trust them again.