Provincial watchdogs being marginalized

Torontosun.com
May 12, 2015
By Christina Blizzard

Some of the most important roles in provincial government are those of the independent officers of the legislature - the ombudsman, the auditor general, the integrity commissioner and the environment commissioner.

These watchdogs work tirelessly and fearlessly in the interests of the public ensuring their tax dollars aren’t wasted and that the government serves them well.

They keep the elected officials honest.

A troubling trend in recent years has been the way the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne has sought to marginalize these honest brokers, to undermine them - and ultimately push them out.

The better they are at their jobs, the bigger the target on their backs.

Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk held a news conference Tuesday to air her concern about changes to the law that gives her final say over government advertising to ensure it isn’t partisan.

In 2003, former premier Dalton McGuinty came to power on a promise to give oversight to the auditor on taxpayer-funded government advertising to ensure it doesn’t promote a political party.

Buried in the budget bill introduced earlier this month were changes to that law that would broaden the definition of partisan ads to an extent Lysyk believes makes a “mockery” of her office.

“These proposed amendments will do away with, we believe, the effectiveness of the act and would place my office in an unacceptable position of having to approve ads because they conform to the narrow requirements of the amended act, even though others may clearly view them as partisan,” Lysyk told reporters.

When she first raised these concerns, the government put out a link to a Foodland YouTube ad, claiming Lysyk had banned it because the apples were too Liberal red.

That’s nonsense, said Lysyk. In fact, that ad was approved by her office and in the 18 months since she’s been AG, the only ad that has been turned down was one claiming the manufacturing sector in this province is robust, when in fact it’s on life support.

In the more than 10 years the law has been in effect, more than 7,200 ads, worth more than $410 million, were approved. Fewer than 1% have been rejected.

This is the same government that last year undermined Lysyk when she released a scathing report on smart meters. Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said the energy sector was “very complex, is very difficult to understand” - the implication being it was too difficult for Lysyk to figure out.

In fact, Lysyk spent 10 years at Manitoba Hydro, so she probably understands electricity better than Chiarelli.

Then there’s the province’s crusading ombudsman Andre Marin.

He’s turned that job from one that was a timid, toothless backwater to one where he routinely leads the charge for the downtrodden - whether it’s fairness for lottery winners, breast cancer victims who need drugs or in municipal taxes.

He produced a scorching report on G20 policing and now he’s tackling the mess in Hydro One billing. How did they government reward him? He loses oversight of Hydro One when the government sells it off. Now his contract is up - and mysteriously stories start appearing about his expenses, the same way they did the last time his contract was up for renewal - even though his expenses were approved.

It’s all part of a pattern.

If you embarrass this government, they’ll attempt to discredit you. They’ll try to force you out of your job.

Treasury Board Minister Deb Matthews said the advertising changes are needed because “the implementation of the act wasn’t in tune with the original intent.”

And she blamed Mike Harris - who quit politics in 2001.

“Look at those Mike Harris ads, where he used taxpayer money to promote himself,” she said.

How dreadful. A politician shamelessly promoting himself. A Liberal, I’m sure, would never do such a thing.

They just gut the powers of watchdogs like the AG and the ombudsman and hire lapdogs to replace them.