Canada Global(Web News)Conservative Leader Pierre Poliore is promising to tighten financial transparency rules for elected officials and is using the promise to target Liberal Leader Mark Carney. Poliore said at a press conference in Ottawa on Sunday that if his party forms government, he will ban what he calls shadow lobbying.
“We will eliminate lobbying red tape and require anyone who acts as an advisor to government officials to register as a lobbyist whenever they are advising on matters that affect their financial interests or the interests of their company,” he said. He said
the rule would have forced Carney to register as a lobbyist when he advised former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through the Liberal Party. The Conservative leader also said he would require cabinet ministers to completely divest from tax havens and disclose their assets. Poilever billed his package of measures as the Accountability Act 2.0. He referred to a law passed by Stephen Harper’s former government.
Poilever also accused the Liberal leader of hiding from the public by not raising questions for days and refusing to tell Canadians more about his investments. The Liberals sent a fundraising pitch to supporters on Sunday in response to Poliver, saying Poliver was limiting media access, such as limiting the number of questions to four per day.
Liberal Party spokesman Mohamed Hussen also said that if anyone is hiding and trying to avoid accountability to the media, it is Pierre Poliver. When asked by reporters whether Carney’s decision to withdraw from the campaign was meaningless because it did not appear to have cost him any political damage, Poliver replied that it was a choice that Canadians would have to make. Carney’s campaign is on hiatus ahead of a crucial week in the election. Such hiatuses in the campaign are not uncommon, but Carney declined to take questions from reporters in Parliament after a cabinet committee meeting on Friday.