Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Increased auditing powers for Elections Canada rejected

A House of Commons committee has recommended against giving the chief electoral officer powers similar to those of the auditor general.

The committee recommended that the chief electoral officer not receive powers to order documents about party expenses in the same way the auditor general does with federal agencies and departments.

Instead, the committee recommended that an external auditor be hired to review expense reports to ensure full compliance with election spending laws.

The auditing rules would only apply to the political parties that receive a per-vote subsidy.

"Although the (chief electoral officer) has stated this solution would increase accountability," the NDP wrote in its dissenting opinion attached to the end of the report, "the increased costs would have a detrimental impact on smaller political parties and, at present, it is unclear whether or not external auditing firms have the expertise and understanding of the Canada Elections Act to conduct compliance audits."

Politicians on the standing committee on procedure and house affairs also rejected a request from Elections Canada to enshrine into law a method for federal prisoners to cast their ballots during elections.

Using their majority on the committee, the Conservatives also approved a recommendation that would prevent elections workers from striking between election calls.

A spokeswoman for Democratic Reform Minister Tim Uppal said he is reviewing the report.

The government must table a response to the committee report within 120 days.

The report was made public as the parties in the Commons engage in finger-pointing over questionable automated calls during the 2011 elections that directed voters to nonexistent polling stations. Elections Canada is investigating the largest probe of alleged electoral interference in its history.

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae told reporters Monday that the party wanted to see further amendments to the Elections Canada Act to require parties to maintain comprehensive records about automated calls.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: --

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