An online activist group has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal Court to order the release of a report into government spending during last year's G8 and G20 summits.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser has steadfastly refused to release the final report until after the election. However, drafts of the report that leaked to the media suggested the government misled Parliament about the true cost of the world leaders summit, held last June in Toronto and near Huntsville, Ont.
The online activist group Avaaz filed a lawsuit to have the report released before the May 2 federal election. The lawsuit was filed by Avaaz member Kathleen Trotter in Federal Court Tuesday in Toronto, according to online court records.
It argues that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows the release of the report, so voters can make informed decisions on election day.
Avaaz is a web-based organization that hosts online petitions among its activities. Most recently, it got into a war of words with Sun Media over the group's opposition to the launch of Sun News Network.
Avaaz campaign director Emma Ruby-Sachs said the group first tried an online petition, which now has more than 80,000 names, and then a letter asking Fraser to release the report.
Federal party leaders have agreed during the campaign the report should be made public.
"It didn't occur to us that the auditor general would ignore the call of the party leaders and 80,000 Canadians. When that became clear, we acted right away," Ruby-Sachs said.
"If the Federal Court doesn't hear our application urgently . . . the legal argument in this case becomes moot."
Leaked drafts of Fraser's report suggested that $50 million was spent in the southern Ontario riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka, where the incumbent is Conservative Tony Clement, but was folded into an $83-million fund to invest in border infrastructure. The riding is more than 300 kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border.
The draft report stated the Conservative government did not act "clearly" and "transparently" when it asked Parliament to approve the $50 million in G8 spending. As well, the draft report found incomplete documentation for the selection of and spending on 32 projects in Huntsville.
Conservative John Baird had told Postmedia News that the final draft of the report changed from the one leaked to the media, saying a later version did not say the government misinformed Parliament.
Fraser has said the report could only be released when Parliament is sitting, which it won't until after the election.
The Avaaz filing argues the Auditor General Act does not prohibit the release of reports when Parliament is not in session.
"Nowhere in the act does it require that all reports be kept confidential from the public before a report is presented to Parliament," the filing reads. "The act does not address how reports are to be submitted during an election writ period in which Parliament has been dissolved."
The filing states that should the report find the government misused tax dollars, Trotter will "refuse to vote for the governing party in the upcoming election" and will also "attempt to persuade friends, family and colleagues to do the same."
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com
Auditor General Sheila Fraser has steadfastly refused to release the final report until after the election. However, drafts of the report that leaked to the media suggested the government misled Parliament about the true cost of the world leaders summit, held last June in Toronto and near Huntsville, Ont.
The online activist group Avaaz filed a lawsuit to have the report released before the May 2 federal election. The lawsuit was filed by Avaaz member Kathleen Trotter in Federal Court Tuesday in Toronto, according to online court records.
It argues that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows the release of the report, so voters can make informed decisions on election day.
Avaaz is a web-based organization that hosts online petitions among its activities. Most recently, it got into a war of words with Sun Media over the group's opposition to the launch of Sun News Network.
Avaaz campaign director Emma Ruby-Sachs said the group first tried an online petition, which now has more than 80,000 names, and then a letter asking Fraser to release the report.
Federal party leaders have agreed during the campaign the report should be made public.
"It didn't occur to us that the auditor general would ignore the call of the party leaders and 80,000 Canadians. When that became clear, we acted right away," Ruby-Sachs said.
"If the Federal Court doesn't hear our application urgently . . . the legal argument in this case becomes moot."
Leaked drafts of Fraser's report suggested that $50 million was spent in the southern Ontario riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka, where the incumbent is Conservative Tony Clement, but was folded into an $83-million fund to invest in border infrastructure. The riding is more than 300 kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border.
The draft report stated the Conservative government did not act "clearly" and "transparently" when it asked Parliament to approve the $50 million in G8 spending. As well, the draft report found incomplete documentation for the selection of and spending on 32 projects in Huntsville.
Conservative John Baird had told Postmedia News that the final draft of the report changed from the one leaked to the media, saying a later version did not say the government misinformed Parliament.
Fraser has said the report could only be released when Parliament is sitting, which it won't until after the election.
The Avaaz filing argues the Auditor General Act does not prohibit the release of reports when Parliament is not in session.
"Nowhere in the act does it require that all reports be kept confidential from the public before a report is presented to Parliament," the filing reads. "The act does not address how reports are to be submitted during an election writ period in which Parliament has been dissolved."
The filing states that should the report find the government misused tax dollars, Trotter will "refuse to vote for the governing party in the upcoming election" and will also "attempt to persuade friends, family and colleagues to do the same."
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com
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