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EDITORIAL: MIDEAST FUSS CALLS FOR BAN ON JUNKETS
Toronto Star, Canada
Aug. 23, 2006
Why are some Canadian Members of Parliament allowing themselves to be
squired around flashpoints like the Middle East and Taiwan by lobby
groups with agendas to promote?
The question is worth asking, given the uproar Toronto Liberal MP Borys
Wrzesnewskyj has sparked by accusing Israel of "state terrorism" and
"criminal" activity in defending itself against Hezbollah attacks from
Lebanon. Whatever one's view of the Mideast, his comments Sunday after
a trip to the area were inflammatory, and embarrassing to his party.
The "fact-finding" trip to southern Lebanon on which Wrzesnewskyj
and two other opposition MPs went was led by the National Council on
Canada-Arab Relations. In Wrzesnewskyj's case it wasn't a junket;
he covered his costs. But it illustrates the pitfalls MPs face on
all such trips.
And far too many are junkets, pure and simple. The federal Ethics
Commissioner's office reports that 44 MPs went on 67 "sponsored"
trips last year, some of them worth well over $10,000.
The Chinese International Economic Co-operation Association sponsored
17 forays to Taiwan, with the Taiwanese government sponsoring still
more. And the Canada-Israel Committee and Quebec-Israel Committee
sponsored 14. A sampling of other sponsors includes the government
of Armenia, the Christian Embassy, the Sikh Organization of New York,
the World Federation of Shooting Sports, the Canada-Sri Lanka Business
Council and the International Committee for a Free Vietnam.
The old Reform party frowned on junkets, and rightly so. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, having come to office promising clean government,
should canvass for support in Parliament to ban them entirely. And
MPs from all parties should think harder before letting themselves
be squired around by lobby groups on any trips, even at the MPs'
own expense.
There is plenty of opportunity, and money, for MPs to travel abroad
in the course of their work. The Canadian government pays for travel
on official federal business. And Parliament has a travel budget for
parliamentary committees, and for interparliamentary exchanges.
That should suffice. If Parliament or the government feel that
MPs need to know more about the Middle East, Asian politics or the
shooting sports, the taxpayer should foot the bill, not some foreign
government or agency looking to lobby our lawmakers. If Parliament or
the government pay and arrange the trips, the public can have some
confidence that MPs will be exposed to a healthy variety of views,
not a narrow focus.
When others pay, or arrange the travel, the perception will always
exist that MPs will come home beholden to their sponsors, or disposed
to see the world through their sponsors' eyes. That inspires no
great confidence.
Toronto Star, Canada
Aug. 23, 2006
Why are some Canadian Members of Parliament allowing themselves to be
squired around flashpoints like the Middle East and Taiwan by lobby
groups with agendas to promote?
The question is worth asking, given the uproar Toronto Liberal MP Borys
Wrzesnewskyj has sparked by accusing Israel of "state terrorism" and
"criminal" activity in defending itself against Hezbollah attacks from
Lebanon. Whatever one's view of the Mideast, his comments Sunday after
a trip to the area were inflammatory, and embarrassing to his party.
The "fact-finding" trip to southern Lebanon on which Wrzesnewskyj
and two other opposition MPs went was led by the National Council on
Canada-Arab Relations. In Wrzesnewskyj's case it wasn't a junket;
he covered his costs. But it illustrates the pitfalls MPs face on
all such trips.
And far too many are junkets, pure and simple. The federal Ethics
Commissioner's office reports that 44 MPs went on 67 "sponsored"
trips last year, some of them worth well over $10,000.
The Chinese International Economic Co-operation Association sponsored
17 forays to Taiwan, with the Taiwanese government sponsoring still
more. And the Canada-Israel Committee and Quebec-Israel Committee
sponsored 14. A sampling of other sponsors includes the government
of Armenia, the Christian Embassy, the Sikh Organization of New York,
the World Federation of Shooting Sports, the Canada-Sri Lanka Business
Council and the International Committee for a Free Vietnam.
The old Reform party frowned on junkets, and rightly so. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, having come to office promising clean government,
should canvass for support in Parliament to ban them entirely. And
MPs from all parties should think harder before letting themselves
be squired around by lobby groups on any trips, even at the MPs'
own expense.
There is plenty of opportunity, and money, for MPs to travel abroad
in the course of their work. The Canadian government pays for travel
on official federal business. And Parliament has a travel budget for
parliamentary committees, and for interparliamentary exchanges.
That should suffice. If Parliament or the government feel that
MPs need to know more about the Middle East, Asian politics or the
shooting sports, the taxpayer should foot the bill, not some foreign
government or agency looking to lobby our lawmakers. If Parliament or
the government pay and arrange the trips, the public can have some
confidence that MPs will be exposed to a healthy variety of views,
not a narrow focus.
When others pay, or arrange the travel, the perception will always
exist that MPs will come home beholden to their sponsors, or disposed
to see the world through their sponsors' eyes. That inspires no
great confidence.