Patrick Brown introduces accountability plan

Ontario PC leader says would be among first things he pushes for if party elected in 2018.

Thestar.com
May 9, 2017
By Kristin Rushowy

Patrick Brown says legislation to boost government accountability and ethics would be among the first things his party would push for if elected in 2018.

The Progressive Conservative leader revealed an eight-point plan on Tuesday at Queen’s Park, along with MPP Steve Clark, calling them “significant measures that will promote fairness in politics and government.”

“Whatever the Liberals have said they have done to clean up government does not go nearly far enough,” he told reporters.

The plan, which he introduced as a motion in the legislature late Tuesday afternoon, would “close the loophole to prevent ministers from fundraising” and ban any fundraising targets for them.

Brown would also stop former ministerial staff from lobbying for companies their ministry dealt with for more than the current year, and put government advertising back under review by the auditor general.

Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said the province already has “very strict fundraising rules - stricter than anywhere else” - and called Brown’s motion “a diversionary tactic ... he doesn’t have anything to talk about so he’s going back to these old issues.”

Brown, however, called them “straightforward provisions that will help protect our government, protect the public to ensure we have ethics and accountability, so absolutely we’d push this rapidly if we have the honour to govern.”