All party leaders asked to pledge to pass an honesty-in-politics law, and to pledge to resign if they break any election promise
"We're only making promises we can keep . . . read our platform, and you'll see promises that we will keep."
Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, December 15, 2005
(NOTE: the Conservatives broke at least 30 of their election promises)
"Leadership demands honesty."
Liberal Party Leader Stéphane Dion, February 6, 2008
(NOTE: Liberals have done almost nothing to ensure honesty can be demanded from leaders)
"Honesty, fairness and transparency should be the rule, not the exception in our political life."
NDP Leader Jack Layton, November 1, 2005
(NOTE: the NDP did almost nothing since the last election to make honesty the rule)
"A government that cannot keep its promises is a government that will not have the moral authority to govern." [translated]
Bloc Québecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, December 15, 2005
(NOTE: the Bloc has done almost nothing to ensure governments are required to keep promises)
"I have made a commitment to myself, to may family, and I make the same commitment to voters, that I'll tell the truth all the time."
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, March 5, 2008
(NOTE: but will the Green Party platform include measures to require people in politics to tell the truth?)
OTTAWA - Today, with the election promises and false advertising rolling out from all the federal political parties, Democracy Watch called on all party leaders to show respect for voters by pledging to enact a "Political Hot Air Tax" through an honesty-in-politics law that ensures broken promises, and false statements by anyone involved in federal elections and the federal government, are penalized with high fines.
Democracy Watch has sent (and will send daily) a message to all party leaders asking that they also pledge to resign if they break any election promises (unless unforeseen circumstances arise).
Democracy Watch also called on reporters, and voters, across Canada to ask federal political party leaders and candidates again and again, every time they make a promise, whether they will make these two pledges.
"If they want voters' trust, party leaders must show they trust themselves by pledging to resign if they break any promise, and by pledging to pass a law making it easy for voters to challenge dishonesty by politicians and government officials," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch.
It is, in fact, impossible for voters to choose from amongst the parties as long as it is legal for the party leaders to lie. No matter how much time a voter spent comparing the parties' election platforms, a voter cannot make a choice when they know that some of the platform pledges are false. That's why dishonesty in politics is a fundamental voter rights issue and the top government accountability issue.
Democracy Watch's proposed honesty-in-politics law would make it illegal for all federal politicians, their staff, appointees and government officials to make false promises or statements at any time (overriding the parliamentary privilege MPs and senators abuse daily), and would also restrict MP party-switching between elections. Anyone would be allowed to file a complaint with the federal Ethics Commissioner who would have the power and mandate to impose very high fines on misleaders.
"Broken promises and false claims make our politics dirty just like pollution makes our air dirty, so just like we need laws and taxes to clean up our air, we need an honesty-in-politics law and Political Hot Air Tax to clean up our politics," said Conacher. "The cynicism-breeding habit of politicians and government officials misleading the public will only be stopped when their dishonesty can be easily challenged and punished, similar to how the public can challenge dishonest corporate executives."
To see this entire news release, with links to the message sent to party leaders, and other documents, go to:
[url=http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsSep1708.html]http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsSep1708.html[/url]
Democracy Watch is Canada’s leading citizen group advocating democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility, and the most successful national citizen advocacy group in Canada over the past 13 years in winning systemic changes to key laws. 
