pacerman
2006-01-17 18:43:06 UTC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2006
** **
**OTTAWA**** – ****Yesterday, Paul Martin repeated his mistaken
assertion that he has never broken an electoral promise. The claim is
simply incredible. In truth, Paul Martin and the Liberal Party have
repeatedly broken promises on some of their flagship initiatives. What
follows is an extended version of “Reality Check” highlighting some of
the most memorable broken promises of the past eighteen months.**
** **
**Paul Martin on broken promises:**
** **
· “I would never stay in office if I did not keep my
promises,” he said (/The Record/, June 2, 2004).
· “A government that does not keep its promises is a
government that does not have the moral authority to govern” (/Toronto
Star/, December 16, 2005).
** ******
**Promises Paul Martin has broken since the 2004 Election:**
** **
1. Martin’s promise to fix health care “for a generation” was
replaced with a 10-year plan.
2. Martin’s grand promises of giving Parliament a role in reviewing
appointments to the Supreme Court instead resulted in a
rubber-stamp process, where the appointees didn’t even appear in
person.
3. After promising a national pharmacare program during the election,
Martin now says that the Liberals only promised a plan for
catastrophic drug coverage, despite a letter that Martin sent to
PEI Premier Pat Binns openly endorsing a national pharmacare plan
in June (/Globe and Mail/, August 17, 2004).
4. Martin promised in 2001 to instruct Revenue Canada to find a
solution for the JDS employees burdened by mounting tax bills on
hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock profits they never saw.
Martin reiterated his pledge when a former JDS employee of the
now-defunct JDS Central Saanich fibre-optics plant buttonholed him
during his pre-election swing through Victoria (/The Province/,
September 7, 2004). Nothing has been done.
5. In his election campaign, Martin promised that Ottawa would pay
the costs of drugs for certain kinds of home-care patients. In the
health care agreement, the limited home-care schemes envisioned
cover only drugs that are administered intravenously (/Toronto
Star/, September 17, 2004).
6. The /Globe and Mail/ suggests that the health care deal fails to
live up to the Liberals’ proposed home care plan: “Martin
abandoned ambitious plans for a home-care program” (/Globe and
Mail/, September 17, 2004).
7. In appointing Gordon Feeney as chair of Canada Post, at least two
of four steps of the Liberals’ promised “new process” were
ignored, the /Globe and Mail/ said: no outside recruitment firm
was hired and the job was not advertised (/Globe and Mail/,
October 2, 2004).
8. Contrary to this promised process, the President of the
Nominations Committee for the Mint, Mr. Louis Proulx, confirmed
under questioning that Max Lewis was hand-picked by the Minister
to become Chairman of the Board of the Royal Canadian Mint. The
Privy Council submitted Mr. Lewis’ name to the Nominations
Committee for approval, and no other names were sought or received
from any source.
9. Martin promised 8-year old Hannah Taylor, a crusader for the
homeless from Winnipeg, that he would join her at the official
opening of a photo portrait exhibit of passionate Canadians in
Ottawa that she would be featured in on the evening of October
7th. Martin backed out at the last minute, claiming the need to
be in the House to deal with the Bloc sub-amendment to the Throne
Speech (/Winnipeg Free Press/, October 12, 2004).
10. Martin promised to banish scandals to “ancient history,” but
refused to take action against Judy Sgro’s questionable behaviour
as Minister of Immigration.
11. A report on ministerial accountability, part of Martin’s response
to the sponsorship scandal, that was supposed to be finished by
September 30th, 2004 has been shelved (/The Hill Times/, February
7, 2005).
12. The Liberals have failed to meet their own June 2004 deadline for
releasing rules on bank mergers. They then missed the year-end
deadline. Canadians are still waiting (/Toronto Star/, February 3,
2005).
13. Martin promised a vote in the House of Commons on missile defence
before any decision was made. Martin announced his decision on
February 24, 2005, with no vote having taken place.
14. Student groups accused Martin of breaking his promises on
post-secondary education in the wake of the budget. In the weeks
leading up to last year’s federal election, Paul Martin promised
that his Liberals would form a government focused on
post-secondary education. Among his promises was a commitment to
divide the Canada Social Transfer to create a separate transfer
payment, amounting to between $7 billion and $8 billion, dedicated
to universities. But this move was left out of Budget 2005 (/New
Brunswick Telegraph-Journal/, February 25, 2005).
15. Despite Throne Speech and campaign promises on housing funding,
and Joe Fontana’s promise in July 2004 that housing money would
start flowing “within weeks,” there was no money for affordable
housing in Budget 2005 (/Toronto Star/, February 28, 2005).
16. Mr. Martin promised to end the democratic deficit, but ignored the
senators-in-waiting elected by the people of Alberta and appointed
his own choices.
17. Mr. Martin promised to address western alienation, but ignored
Albertans’ choices for Senate positions.
18. Mr. Martin talked about reforming the Senate, but went ahead and
appointed Senators the same old way, including disgraced former
Liberal cabinet minister Art Eggleton, Liberal organizers like Jim
Cowan, and Mr. Martin’s close friends Francis Fox and Dennis Dawson.
19. Mr. Martin promised Parliamentary review of senior
appointments. But when his appointment of Glen Murray as Chair of
the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy was
rejected, Mr. Martin ignored the committee and appointed him anyway.
20. Mr. Martin broke his promise on funding for parliamentary
secretaries. He had originally promised that any extra costs would
be born by cabinet ministers. Instead, he announced that Canadian
taxpayers would have to provide $90,000 extra per parliamentary
secretary, amounting to $2.5 million per year (/The Hill Times/,
March 21, 2005).
21. Mr. Martin promised to put donations from companies implicated in
the sponsorship scandal into a trust fund, then the Liberals voted
against doing so on April 19th, 2005.
22. Mr. Martin promised that the Gomery Inquiry would have no
limits. However, Clause K of its Terms of Reference makes it clear
that Gomery is restricted from naming names or finding
responsibility.
23. Mr. Martin promised to reform Access to Information and increase
openness and transparency in government, “changing the culture in
Ottawa,” but ignored a Parliamentary Committee and refused to
renew Information Commissioner John Reid’s appointment for an
extra year to help with the reform (/Globe and Mail/, June 13,
2005).
24. Mr. Martin promised a new era of federal-provincial relations, but
instead of informing the government of New Brunswick directly
about the decision not to assist with Point Lepreau’s
refurbishment, journalists were told, who then passed on the
information (/Moncton Times and Transcript/, July 14, 2005).
25. Mr. Martin, Andy Scott, and Paul Zed promised assistance with
Point Lepreau, and then flip- flopped by saying no aid would be
given (/Moncton Times and Transcript/, July 14, 2005).
26. One day after voting in favour of a national cancer strategy, the
Liberal government said it would make no changes and provide no
funding (Canadian Cancer Society Press Release, June 8, 2005).
27. The promised tax cuts for large employers were removed from the
budget in a backroom deal with Jack Layton, and then reintroduced
only to be killed again (/Toronto Star/, September 27, 2005).
28. Mr. Martin promised the Premier of British Columbia that he would
call President Bush to discuss softwood lumber on August 11th. It
took him 64 days to finally pick up the phone.
29. Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi accused the Liberal government of
breaking its promise to introduce a new Citizenship Act. Telegdi
said the government had committed to bringing forward legislation
within two weeks of a new session of Parliament and noted that the
“jig is up” (/Ottawa Citizen/, October 7, 2005).
30. Martin broke his promise to extend Access to Information
legislation to Crown Corporations. He actually voted against it in
the House of Commons on November 15th (Division No. 180).
31. In September 2004, Paul Martin announced $700 million in one-time
aboriginal health-care funding. None of that money has yet come
out of federal coffers, leaving some provinces – in the words of
one provincial official – “livid.” Martin acknowledged this
grievance, saying in his opening speech, “I fully recognize that
the money we committed to aboriginal health care last year has not
flowed quickly enough. And I can tell you in the future, it will”
(/Edmonton Journal/, November 25, 2005).
32. Martin promised that the Liberal Party nomination in
Etobicoke-Lakeshore would be open to all, only to have Michael
Ignatieff acclaimed and two other candidates disqualified: “People
can run, and if they win it, they win it” (/CTV.ca/, November 28,
2005).
33. Former Liberal MP David Kilgour told the media that, out of 100
Canadian advisers Martin promised, only three Canadian advisers
have been sent to Darfur (/Edmonton Sun/, November 25, 2005).
34. Martin promised that he would never accuse Stephen Harper of
working with separatists, only to accuse him of working with
separatists within a matter hours (/Globe and Mail/, December 22,
2005).
If you made it this far, you now know that the most important promise
that Paul Martin has broken, is his promise not to break his promises.
January 17, 2006
** **
**OTTAWA**** – ****Yesterday, Paul Martin repeated his mistaken
assertion that he has never broken an electoral promise. The claim is
simply incredible. In truth, Paul Martin and the Liberal Party have
repeatedly broken promises on some of their flagship initiatives. What
follows is an extended version of “Reality Check” highlighting some of
the most memorable broken promises of the past eighteen months.**
** **
**Paul Martin on broken promises:**
** **
· “I would never stay in office if I did not keep my
promises,” he said (/The Record/, June 2, 2004).
· “A government that does not keep its promises is a
government that does not have the moral authority to govern” (/Toronto
Star/, December 16, 2005).
** ******
**Promises Paul Martin has broken since the 2004 Election:**
** **
1. Martin’s promise to fix health care “for a generation” was
replaced with a 10-year plan.
2. Martin’s grand promises of giving Parliament a role in reviewing
appointments to the Supreme Court instead resulted in a
rubber-stamp process, where the appointees didn’t even appear in
person.
3. After promising a national pharmacare program during the election,
Martin now says that the Liberals only promised a plan for
catastrophic drug coverage, despite a letter that Martin sent to
PEI Premier Pat Binns openly endorsing a national pharmacare plan
in June (/Globe and Mail/, August 17, 2004).
4. Martin promised in 2001 to instruct Revenue Canada to find a
solution for the JDS employees burdened by mounting tax bills on
hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock profits they never saw.
Martin reiterated his pledge when a former JDS employee of the
now-defunct JDS Central Saanich fibre-optics plant buttonholed him
during his pre-election swing through Victoria (/The Province/,
September 7, 2004). Nothing has been done.
5. In his election campaign, Martin promised that Ottawa would pay
the costs of drugs for certain kinds of home-care patients. In the
health care agreement, the limited home-care schemes envisioned
cover only drugs that are administered intravenously (/Toronto
Star/, September 17, 2004).
6. The /Globe and Mail/ suggests that the health care deal fails to
live up to the Liberals’ proposed home care plan: “Martin
abandoned ambitious plans for a home-care program” (/Globe and
Mail/, September 17, 2004).
7. In appointing Gordon Feeney as chair of Canada Post, at least two
of four steps of the Liberals’ promised “new process” were
ignored, the /Globe and Mail/ said: no outside recruitment firm
was hired and the job was not advertised (/Globe and Mail/,
October 2, 2004).
8. Contrary to this promised process, the President of the
Nominations Committee for the Mint, Mr. Louis Proulx, confirmed
under questioning that Max Lewis was hand-picked by the Minister
to become Chairman of the Board of the Royal Canadian Mint. The
Privy Council submitted Mr. Lewis’ name to the Nominations
Committee for approval, and no other names were sought or received
from any source.
9. Martin promised 8-year old Hannah Taylor, a crusader for the
homeless from Winnipeg, that he would join her at the official
opening of a photo portrait exhibit of passionate Canadians in
Ottawa that she would be featured in on the evening of October
7th. Martin backed out at the last minute, claiming the need to
be in the House to deal with the Bloc sub-amendment to the Throne
Speech (/Winnipeg Free Press/, October 12, 2004).
10. Martin promised to banish scandals to “ancient history,” but
refused to take action against Judy Sgro’s questionable behaviour
as Minister of Immigration.
11. A report on ministerial accountability, part of Martin’s response
to the sponsorship scandal, that was supposed to be finished by
September 30th, 2004 has been shelved (/The Hill Times/, February
7, 2005).
12. The Liberals have failed to meet their own June 2004 deadline for
releasing rules on bank mergers. They then missed the year-end
deadline. Canadians are still waiting (/Toronto Star/, February 3,
2005).
13. Martin promised a vote in the House of Commons on missile defence
before any decision was made. Martin announced his decision on
February 24, 2005, with no vote having taken place.
14. Student groups accused Martin of breaking his promises on
post-secondary education in the wake of the budget. In the weeks
leading up to last year’s federal election, Paul Martin promised
that his Liberals would form a government focused on
post-secondary education. Among his promises was a commitment to
divide the Canada Social Transfer to create a separate transfer
payment, amounting to between $7 billion and $8 billion, dedicated
to universities. But this move was left out of Budget 2005 (/New
Brunswick Telegraph-Journal/, February 25, 2005).
15. Despite Throne Speech and campaign promises on housing funding,
and Joe Fontana’s promise in July 2004 that housing money would
start flowing “within weeks,” there was no money for affordable
housing in Budget 2005 (/Toronto Star/, February 28, 2005).
16. Mr. Martin promised to end the democratic deficit, but ignored the
senators-in-waiting elected by the people of Alberta and appointed
his own choices.
17. Mr. Martin promised to address western alienation, but ignored
Albertans’ choices for Senate positions.
18. Mr. Martin talked about reforming the Senate, but went ahead and
appointed Senators the same old way, including disgraced former
Liberal cabinet minister Art Eggleton, Liberal organizers like Jim
Cowan, and Mr. Martin’s close friends Francis Fox and Dennis Dawson.
19. Mr. Martin promised Parliamentary review of senior
appointments. But when his appointment of Glen Murray as Chair of
the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy was
rejected, Mr. Martin ignored the committee and appointed him anyway.
20. Mr. Martin broke his promise on funding for parliamentary
secretaries. He had originally promised that any extra costs would
be born by cabinet ministers. Instead, he announced that Canadian
taxpayers would have to provide $90,000 extra per parliamentary
secretary, amounting to $2.5 million per year (/The Hill Times/,
March 21, 2005).
21. Mr. Martin promised to put donations from companies implicated in
the sponsorship scandal into a trust fund, then the Liberals voted
against doing so on April 19th, 2005.
22. Mr. Martin promised that the Gomery Inquiry would have no
limits. However, Clause K of its Terms of Reference makes it clear
that Gomery is restricted from naming names or finding
responsibility.
23. Mr. Martin promised to reform Access to Information and increase
openness and transparency in government, “changing the culture in
Ottawa,” but ignored a Parliamentary Committee and refused to
renew Information Commissioner John Reid’s appointment for an
extra year to help with the reform (/Globe and Mail/, June 13,
2005).
24. Mr. Martin promised a new era of federal-provincial relations, but
instead of informing the government of New Brunswick directly
about the decision not to assist with Point Lepreau’s
refurbishment, journalists were told, who then passed on the
information (/Moncton Times and Transcript/, July 14, 2005).
25. Mr. Martin, Andy Scott, and Paul Zed promised assistance with
Point Lepreau, and then flip- flopped by saying no aid would be
given (/Moncton Times and Transcript/, July 14, 2005).
26. One day after voting in favour of a national cancer strategy, the
Liberal government said it would make no changes and provide no
funding (Canadian Cancer Society Press Release, June 8, 2005).
27. The promised tax cuts for large employers were removed from the
budget in a backroom deal with Jack Layton, and then reintroduced
only to be killed again (/Toronto Star/, September 27, 2005).
28. Mr. Martin promised the Premier of British Columbia that he would
call President Bush to discuss softwood lumber on August 11th. It
took him 64 days to finally pick up the phone.
29. Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi accused the Liberal government of
breaking its promise to introduce a new Citizenship Act. Telegdi
said the government had committed to bringing forward legislation
within two weeks of a new session of Parliament and noted that the
“jig is up” (/Ottawa Citizen/, October 7, 2005).
30. Martin broke his promise to extend Access to Information
legislation to Crown Corporations. He actually voted against it in
the House of Commons on November 15th (Division No. 180).
31. In September 2004, Paul Martin announced $700 million in one-time
aboriginal health-care funding. None of that money has yet come
out of federal coffers, leaving some provinces – in the words of
one provincial official – “livid.” Martin acknowledged this
grievance, saying in his opening speech, “I fully recognize that
the money we committed to aboriginal health care last year has not
flowed quickly enough. And I can tell you in the future, it will”
(/Edmonton Journal/, November 25, 2005).
32. Martin promised that the Liberal Party nomination in
Etobicoke-Lakeshore would be open to all, only to have Michael
Ignatieff acclaimed and two other candidates disqualified: “People
can run, and if they win it, they win it” (/CTV.ca/, November 28,
2005).
33. Former Liberal MP David Kilgour told the media that, out of 100
Canadian advisers Martin promised, only three Canadian advisers
have been sent to Darfur (/Edmonton Sun/, November 25, 2005).
34. Martin promised that he would never accuse Stephen Harper of
working with separatists, only to accuse him of working with
separatists within a matter hours (/Globe and Mail/, December 22,
2005).
If you made it this far, you now know that the most important promise
that Paul Martin has broken, is his promise not to break his promises.