You guys writing to your MPs about Harper? "another promise evaporates"

Tory lobbyists: another Stephen Harper promise evaporates

Ottawa (30 March 2006) - The first session of the new Conservative Parliament won't convene until April 3 but already two Tory staffers have bolted government ranks to cash in as lobbyists.

Kevin Macintosh and David Salvatore, aides to ministers Rob Nicholson and Monte Solberg, left earlier this month and have already lined up a stable of big-name clients ready and willing to pay for their influence with the new administration.

How could this happen?

How could they transform themselves so quickly into lobbyists after Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ringing declaration last November that he would allow no such thing. All Tory aides would be barred from lobbying for a minimum of five years after leaving government service, he pledged.

That was then, and now is now, apparently.

http://www.nupge.ca/news_2006/n30ma06a.htm

OTTAWA — The Liberals have asked Lobbyists Registrar Michael Nelson and Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro to investigate whether three former Conservative staffers who have become lobbyists since the Tories took office have breached the principles of ethics codes.

Liberal MPs Wayne Easter and Dominic LeBlanc asked for an investigation to determine whether the former staffers broke rules that set a five-year cooling-off period before ministerial staffers can become lobbyists, and to decide what rules should apply to other staffers.

...

A third staffer, Tara Baran, worked as a legislative assistant to MP Vic Toews until he became Justice Minister in February, but has since registered to lobby several government departments, including Justice Canada.

...
(and from the Conscience Party)

NDP ethics critic Pat Martin, however, said that it appears that the ex-staffers broke no rules -- and he called the Liberals' ethics complaints hypocritical. But, he said, the Conservatives should close what he called loopholes so that it cannot happen again, or they will have failed to live up to the spirit of their promise.

"They haven't stopped the well connected from having privileged access to the halls of power, and that's the whole point. Ottawa's not supposed to be governed by who you know," he said. "It didn't take them long to start acting just like Liberals."
The Gob and Pail

Ah...with an ethics critic like that, who needs consistency and integrity--
'yup yup, just like them liberals, you betcha...gotta get back to the Tim Bit's before caucus does...only 20 in the pack, dontcha know...'

Pretty disgusting all round...