From the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, (Messrs. George, D’Alessandro, Desmarais, Lamarre, Morgan and Nixon are the chief executives respectively of Suncor Energy Inc., Manulife Financial, Power Corporation of Canada, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., EnCana Corporation and Royal Bank of Canada.)

A flurry of highly publicized corporate scandals in recent years triggered widespread demands for new rules and tougher enforcement. Market forces also have been at work, often driving change further and faster than governments. As business leaders, we are the first to admit that the job of restoring public trust in private enterprise is far from complete. But by working together, governments, regulators, institutional investors, professional bodies, financial markets and the directors and executives of individual companies have within a remarkably short time transformed Canadian corporate governance practices. These practices stand as among the best in the world.

The federal sponsorship scandal has become the symbol of the need for an equally sweeping transformation of public governance. What Prime Minister Paul Martin has called Canada's "democratic deficit" demands action on at least two levels.

First, public governance reforms must mirror those that have taken place within the private sector in strengthening transparency and accountability. In the private sector, CEOs and CFOs are now required to certify that each of our reports fairly reflects the state of our business, that everything in the report is true, that nothing has been left out that might make what is said misleading and that we are aware of all material facts. We would suggest that governments consider comparable ways to strengthen the personal responsibility and accountability of ministers and deputy ministers.

Second, there is an urgent need to reshape the relationships among Canada's governments. The flexibility of a federal governance structure can be a competitive advantage, but inter-governmental relations in Canada have become dominated by an endless argument over the so-called fiscal imbalance: recurring surpluses at the federal level at a time when many provinces are struggling to stay afloat in the face of dramatically rising health care costs. This has led to a tangled web of one-off and asymmetrical deals that has sent public spending skyrocketing while reducing accountability to taxpayers.

Looks like even the Desmarais family has had enough of the shenanigans in our government. The Liberal Party is about power and money. Much of that money is coming from businesses across Canada, and it's a harsh indictment if CEOs of major corporations are coming out to say enough is enough.

Hat tip to Angry.