statism watch

The Liberals are (correctly) making a show of this matter, though much of the motive is to get back into power as well, of course. ‘Conservative’ supporters will attack them, because their team can do no wrong. But they’ll be out in a year, and the other wrecking crew will be back in. This country has a sort of biplar disorder, and ‘left’ and ‘right’ may as well be red and blue jerseys for all the sense those shifting labels make. Why is it we can only cheer for one or the other? It’s like being a Torontonian and having to cheer for the Leafs; showing up to their games is not going to make them get any better. Electoral reform is an idea that would radically destabilize this sort of pendulum effect the voters are stuck with and introduce more voices and ideas into Canada’s representative body, the House of Commons. Hey ‘conservatives’ – it’s not ‘my party right or wrong’. Just what is it you’re conserving?

Flashback: New RCMP watchdog is toothless | RCMP watchdog won’t be reappointed | Bill would end RCMP self-investigations | Video shows violent B.C. police takedown | RCMP actions ‘gratuitous, ‘violent,’ BC needs own police lawyer tells inquiry | RCMP reject watchdog report on internal investigations | Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation | Mounties want to bar Taser inquiry from finding misconduct | RCMP credibility battered by TASER inquiry | Ottawa cuts funding for RCMP watchdog in wake of TASER inquiry | Head of RCMP unit that framed Arar promoted to Assistant Commissioner | RCMP Investigates, Clears Self of Wrongdoing in Case of TASERed Inuvik Girl | Perjury: Is it different for cops?

Colin Freeze, The Globe and Mail
January 26, 2010

A trio of recently fired watchdogs visited a prorogued Parliament today to complain that the Conservatives are “at war” with the government’s independent tribunals.

The forum, organized as a prorogation protest measure by the Liberals, aired angry remarks from Canada’s former police, military and nuclear watchdogs. Their common complaint? The independence of important “quasi-judicial” bodies is being undercut by political interference.

“This isn’t somewhere you put a [body] in that seat to keep it warm,” said Paul Kennedy, who lost his job as chair of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission last month. He had served four years, but the Conservative government did not renew his term.

“I’m a strong proponent of independent oversight of the government and its agencies,” said Mr. Kennedy, a combative complaints chair who has a 35-year background in federal security agencies.

Politicians, he said, stifle dissent from “bothersome” watchdog agencies by starving them of funding or by appointing ineffective chairs. (An estate lawyer with political connections was named to replace Mr. Kennedy last week.)

Administrative tribunals are “under attack by the federal government,” said Linda Keen, former chief executive at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She recounted how she was “fired” by the Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources last year.

“I said at the time this is going to send a chill through federal tribunals,” she said in a videotaped message. “… Are we in an era where tribunals must be more interested in meeting the needs of the government than in doing their jobs?”

More diplomatic was Peter Tinsley, whose term as chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission, was not renewed last year.

The commission made news for probing the Afghan detainee controversy, the same hot-button issue that many observers say forced the Tories to prorogue Parliament this winter.

“The perception has become widespread that something is not quite right in the system,” Mr. Tinsley said.

Too often, he said, political “horsetrading” and unelected staffers play key roles in hiring and firing watchdogs that serve at the whim of the government they are appointed to criticize.

“The potential for abuse itself does not bode well for good governance,” Mr. Tinsley said.

Canada has about 30 quasi-judicial bodies where administrative officials oversee government agencies, often with an eye to protecting public safety and upholding ethics. Many of these positions are government-in-council appointments, political decisions made by the government of the day.

Fixed terms, merit-based appointments, performance evaluation, and more independence would go a long way to making sure these bodies do their jobs, the panelists said.

The forum was the first in a series organized by the Liberal Party. Many MPs attended and the event was kicked off by remarks from Michael Ignatieff.

“Liberals are at work as you can see. … Our purpose today is to use Parliament Hill the way it should be used,” he said.

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Liberals block committee probe of eHealth chiefs | Bernier’s mislaid files held foreign policy secrets: report | Flaherty chooses himself as authority on banking oversight | CSIS ignored Khadr’s human rights: Parliamentary report | Information commissioner quits, Ottawa chided for lacking ‘guts’ | Ottawa appeals court order to repatriate Omar Khadr | MPs call for clear policy against torture | MPs call for expanded privacy law | Prepare to be boarded! Pirate Party wins entry to European Parliament | MPs from all four parties ink secret deal on cash | UK: Fury as Commons denied vote on DNA database | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | Former Justice Minister Accused in Suit of Accepting Kickbacks | Moores linked to Airbus before Mulroney came to power, memo reveals | Schreiber Inquiry: Premier’s wife testifies bank account was to be hers, not Mulroney’s | Israeli parliament approves Netanyahu’s new government | Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry steers clear of ‘Airbus affair’ on first day | Canada, allies will never defeat Taliban, PM says | Government secrecy ‘grim,’ watchdog says | Harper government withholds listeriosis notes | Behemoth budget bill to be rammed through parliament unread | Former privacy czar Radwanski acquitted of fraud charges | Harper drops Cadman libel lawsuit against Liberals | Ignatieff seeks Harper-like control of party message | Watchdog alarmed by Harper’s information clampdown | Ottawa risks erasing decade of debt reduction | Mulroney-Schreiber probe has no jurisdiction to find liability | Ban-happy Ontario accused of ‘Big Brotherism’ | Counterterrorism squad secretly taped arrest of British whistleblower, elected MP | Liberal crown for Ignatieff? | Decision to prorogue parliament sets ‘very dangerous’ precedent: constitutional expert | Harper halts parliament amid row | Mulroney confidant knew about Airbus commissions: CBC News investigation | Tories release secret tape of ‘coalition’ strategy meeting | Cuts to party subsidies will stay: Flaherty | Tories back down on plan to withdraw funding for opposition parties | Stephen Harper, evil genius, to pull financial plug on opposition: National Post | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | ‘Hard decisions’ needed during economic crisis: throne speech | Harper’s own lawyer decides to bail on Cadman scandal | Cadman ‘bribe tape’ not altered as Harper claimed, expert finds | Harper wins delay of hearing on Cadman tape | Tories admit to using regional funds for federal campaign last election | Comedian begins asking Harper question, cuffed by RCMP | Green Party leader calls out Harper, Layton for debate boycott threats | Tories announced $8.8B in spending before election call | Files tagged as `sensitive’ cause unfair delays, watchdog says | Harper testifies he authorized offer to Cadman | Tentacles of Secrecy Grip Tightly | PM’s tactic `authoritarian’ | Tory ‘Guilty before proven innocent’ law to make debut in court | Judge orders analysis of Cadman audio tape | Federal government quietly releases $490B military plan | Parliament losing power, author says | Information lockdown: How Harper Controls the Spin | Son of ‘Patriot Act’ Author Denies Connection to Obama-NAFTA Leak | Signs point to PMO in NAFTA leak | Government could have planted Couillard bug: former CSIS agent | Bernier quits cabinet post over security breach | PM’s aide fuelled uproar | Elected Parliamentarians Neutered by PM-Appointed ‘Courtiers’ | Another Conservative candidate attacks ‘in-out’ ad scheme | Tape suggests PM knew of alleged Cadman offer | Donations of money, property and services continue to corrupt Canadian politics | ‘What is it they’re trying to hide?’ NDP asks for military export data | The Mulroney Affair: Why politicians seek out the rich | Harper to create government-run media centre: report | Twenty years ago today, the clock clicked down on free trade | The Fifth Estate: Money, Truth, and Spin | Harper pledges to boost military presence in cities | Harper, Bush Share Roots in Controversial Philosophy | Steven Harper and the Bilderbergers Secret Meeting

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