Prime Minister Paul Martin reinforced his unalterable determination to restore confidence in government, giving a personal and forceful pledge to change the way things work in Ottawa – for good and for the better.

March 17, 2004
Quebec City, Quebec

“And we’re going to do it – come hell or high water,” he says

Prime Minister Paul Martin reinforced his unalterable determination to restore confidence in government, giving a personal and forceful pledge to change the way things work in Ottawa – for good and for the better.

“I am going to change the way Ottawa works. This is not a slogan, it's a reality,” Prime Minister Martin promised during a luncheon address to the Chamber of Commerce in Quebec City.

“And we’re going to do it – come hell or high water.”

The Martin government came into office December 2003 with a key objective to change the culture in Ottawa and restore Canadians’ confidence in government. Since then, it has dramatically stepped up efforts to end patronage, cronyism, waste and mismanagement, said Prime Minister Martin.

As part of this ongoing commitment, the Prime Minister announced the government will introduce in the House of Commons on Monday March 22nd whistleblower legislation to protect those who report government mismanagement.


“I am personally and profoundly committed to rapid and permanent changes in the way things are done in Ottawa – a change to the culture of Parliament, where all MPs, including government members, are now empowered and encouraged to defend their opinions and vote according to their conscience; a change to the culture of government, where we have declared all-out war against waste and mismanagement, and where we will put an end to cronyism,” he said.

Prime Minister Martin has long advocated for fundamental changes in the House of Commons that would take power out of the Prime Minister’s Office and put it in the hands of MPs. He detailed a six-point blueprint over 18 months ago, aimed at giving Parliamentarians a greater voice in shaping legislation and restoring ethics and integrity in government. The adoption of a three-line whip that allows MPs to vote more freely and greater emphasis on private members’ bills are just some of these parliamentary reforms that Martin has already acted on since becoming prime minister.

“Even before our new government was sworn in, even before the Auditor General tabled her report, we had made it clear that, as far as we were concerned, ‘change’ would not simply be a buzzword,” he said.

The Auditor General released a report last month that showed mismanagement of the federal sponsorship program. Prime Minister Martin has been touring the country ever since, vowing to get to the bottom of the scandal and taking decisive action to demonstrate it. These substantial reforms started when he cancelled the program as one of his first acts immediately upon taking office in December 2003.

In addition, his government responded to the AG report by immediately introducing concrete steps that include:

• Establishing a Parliamentary Committee that began hearing testimony days after the report was released;
  
  
• Asking an independent Commission of Inquiry to dig up all the facts. It will begin its work soon; and,
  
  
• Establishing a Special Counsel to recover misappropriated funds.
  

• Establishing an independent Ethics Counsellor;
  
  
• Conducting a line-by-line examination of every spending item in every government department;
  
  
• Establishing new rules and ethical guidelines for public office holders, including ministers and their staff;
  
  
• Introducing an Action Plan for Democratic Reform;
  
  
• Reforming the way the government appoints people who lead Crown corporations, using a merit-based system;
  
  
• Strengthening the procurement process of government advertising, and suspending the program until those new rules are in place. As well as reducing its purchase of media space by 15 % for the next three years for a total savings of $36 million;
  
  
• Reforming the way Immigration and Refugee Board members are appointed, to fill the role with the most skilled and competent candidates;
  
  
• Implementing whistleblower legislation to protect those who report government wrongdoing. In the time it takes to pass the legislation, the government has promised to protect public servants who come forward with information related to the federal sponsorship program; and,
  
  
• Working to give Parliamentarians a greater say in senior government appointments.