Would proposed law fight corruption?
Party likely to stay with its principles despite criticism
Coalition Avenir Québec says its first order of business, if elected, would be to adopt sweeping legislation that would tackle corruption in the province. The proposed omnibus legislation, which has not yet been drafted, would change the way political parties are financed, set a fixed election calendar and tighten the oversight of the awarding of public contracts. Monique
Muise examines whether the proposal would make a difference.
Experts have noted that the ethics commissioner is already hindered by a lack of power to investigate and enforce the rules.
QUEBEC CITY — The first piece of legislation the Coalition Avenir Québec says it will push through if it forms government on Sept. 4 is also likely to be the most sweeping.
CAQ says the party’s omnibus “Bill 1” would go a long way toward routing out corruption in Quebec, changing the game when it comes to the funding of political parties in the province. It would increase oversight on public contract tendering, require public servants to report any wrongdoing they witness to the appropriate authorities, and introduce a set election calendar.
And that’s barely scratches the surface.
The bill has not yet been drafted, but the party has released a detailed five-page description of the measures it would include, and which existing laws would need to be modified.
According to Andrew Stark, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the CAQ’s legislative monster is not unique in terms of its scope.
“It’s not unheard of,” he said. “It’s really a question of whether the individual items make sense.”
Stark, who reviewed the CAQ’s explanatory notes feels some points need to be clarified. For instance, one new rule would make it illegal to engage in “any lobbying activity with respect to the awarding of a public contract” between the moment the call for tenders goes out until the winning bid is chosen.
“I’m puzzled about how that would work,” Stark said. “It suggests that a public servant would not be able to communicate with people who made a bid, even to seek clarification or further information. How would we know that this wouldn’t be perceived as lobbying … that no lobbying took place? I can’t see how that might be governed.”
In other jurisdictions where similar rules have been adopted, he noted, government employees who can’t communicate directly with bidders tend to give contracts to those they know over those they don’t. “That tends to skew the process in a way that is in fact inconsistent with what you’re seeking with this kind if a change,” Stark said.
There might also be challenges when it comes to Bill 1’s proposal to create a new “integrity commissioner” by fusing the offices of Quebec’s existing ethics and lobbying commissioners. Experts have noted the ethics commissioner is already hindered by a lack of power to investigate and enforce the rules, a problem that Stark said could be inherited by the new hybrid office.
“What powers would this integrity commissioner actually have?” he asked. “And who will he report to? If he’s not reporting to anybody in these investigations, that raises some administrative and judicial questions. Maybe the (CAQ) has those answers.”
Danielle Pilette, a professor of urban studies at Université du Québec à Montréal, said at the municipal level, Bill 1 wouldn’t result in immense changes.
“The exception would be the new requirement to appoint an auditor-general in municipalities with more than 50,000 residents,” said Pilette, an expert in municipal governance.
Currently, only municipalities with 100,000 residents or more need to hire their own auditor-general. Ten cities fall into that category in Quebec. If Bill 1 were to become law, another nine communities would need to hire someone to keep an independent eye on their books. According to Pilette, that would be a good thing, especially considering that most towns with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 are managing budgets of well over $80 million a year.
The existence of an auditor-general “is usually sufficient to make elected officials and public servants very cautious,” Pilette said. “It can generate conflicts, but it also generates independence that protects against corruption.”
In Pilette’s opinion, the rules currently in place to ensure municipal contracts are awarded correctly are “too soft.” But although Bill 1 might be heading in the right direction, Pilette said it has weak points.
For one thing, she said, it doesn’t address the question of reinforcing the role of the Quebec Municipal Commission, a provincial government body designed to help guide municipal governments and to investigate allegations of wrongdoing. Right now, Pilette said, the commission rarely intervenes when presented with a complaint. “It’s been 10 years that the commission has not been doing its job.”
Despite possible issues with their omnibus proposal, the CAQ is unlikely to waver. Bill 1 is one of its platform’s central planks.
It’s also one of the main reasons corruption-buster Jacques Duchesneau signed on to be the party’s star candidate in St. Jérôme. However it chooses to move forward, Stark said, it’s critical that the party examines its proposals carefully to make sure they are contributing to the fight against corruption, not hindering it.
“That’s always the problem with ethics legislation,” he said. “Solving one problem only at the cost of creating another.”