Harper ran on accountability and he won the election on that platform. You would think this would be his area of strength. You would think this area would be where he would take the greatest care to legislate properly in the interest of Canada and it’s citizenry. That he wouldn’t fudge on the details.
Rather, it seems he is making legislation that would make him get away with being LESS accountable as a government in power. How is being able to give government the power to keep documents secret forever going to help with providing the means to ensure the government is accountable?
It will be interesting to see what the opposition lets Harper get away with in the final draft. My guess is he will blast the opposition for (as he would probably put it), "being against accountability".
Wake up opposition parties! You are asleep at the wheel.
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2006/04/28/1554457.html
Fed watchdog set to slam Tory 'secrecy'
By GREG WESTON
Federal Information Commissioner John Reid is expected to issue a damning indictment of the Conservative government's new accountability legislation today, describing it as a recipe for secrecy that will only help to shield government from public scrutiny.
Reid is expected to present a special report to Parliament shortly after noon today.
Sources tell the Sun that despite the Conservatives' paramount election promise to make the government more open and accountable, the commissioner will report that Stephen Harper is instead leading the country backwards into a world of paper shredders and locked filing cabinets.
While the commissioner's office is refusing interviews in advance of the report's release, a source who has seen the document says Reid generally concludes that the Conservatives' proposed Accountability Act is one of the worst attempts by any government to enhance public access to information.
This damning assessment of Harper's first months in power has nothing to do with the zippered lips of his muted ministers, nor the PM's attempts to thwart the national media.
Far more serious, it is the disturbing picture painted by the country's top watchdog of open government, Parliament's designated officer for enforcing federal access-to-information laws.
The special report evaluates the provisions of the Federal Accountability Act, unveiled earlier this month, and relates them both to the Conservatives' election promises, and to the recommendations in Justice John Gomery's inquiry into the Adscam sponsorship scandal, the source said.
In virtually all areas, Reid finds the Conservatives' new legislation wanting.
During the recent election campaign, for instance, Harper promised a Conservative government would "require the prompt public disclosure of information revealed by whistleblowers ..." The pledge came in the wake of legislation passed earlier under the Liberals that said all documents related to a whistleblower's complaint could be kept secret for five years.
Instead, the Harper government is now proposing to give government the power to keep documents secret forever.
Reid notes in his report that if the provision had been law at the time of Adscam, the revelations of corruption and mismanagement likely never would have come to light.
The information commissioner is also expected to blast the Conservative government over at least a dozen other proposed measures in the new legislation -- which Reid says will make government even less accountable to Canadians.
Reid is expected to be particularly critical of the message Harper's secrecy-obsessed government is sending to public servants.
Reid's report, a source told the Sun, warns that "the magnitude of the proposed secrecy shift in the (Accountability Act) sends a powerful signal to the bureaucracy that the government values secrecy over openness."
Letters to the editor should be sent to feedback@ott.sunpub.com.
Rather, it seems he is making legislation that would make him get away with being LESS accountable as a government in power. How is being able to give government the power to keep documents secret forever going to help with providing the means to ensure the government is accountable?
It will be interesting to see what the opposition lets Harper get away with in the final draft. My guess is he will blast the opposition for (as he would probably put it), "being against accountability".
Wake up opposition parties! You are asleep at the wheel.
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2006/04/28/1554457.html
Fed watchdog set to slam Tory 'secrecy'
By GREG WESTON
Federal Information Commissioner John Reid is expected to issue a damning indictment of the Conservative government's new accountability legislation today, describing it as a recipe for secrecy that will only help to shield government from public scrutiny.
Reid is expected to present a special report to Parliament shortly after noon today.
Sources tell the Sun that despite the Conservatives' paramount election promise to make the government more open and accountable, the commissioner will report that Stephen Harper is instead leading the country backwards into a world of paper shredders and locked filing cabinets.
While the commissioner's office is refusing interviews in advance of the report's release, a source who has seen the document says Reid generally concludes that the Conservatives' proposed Accountability Act is one of the worst attempts by any government to enhance public access to information.
This damning assessment of Harper's first months in power has nothing to do with the zippered lips of his muted ministers, nor the PM's attempts to thwart the national media.
Far more serious, it is the disturbing picture painted by the country's top watchdog of open government, Parliament's designated officer for enforcing federal access-to-information laws.
The special report evaluates the provisions of the Federal Accountability Act, unveiled earlier this month, and relates them both to the Conservatives' election promises, and to the recommendations in Justice John Gomery's inquiry into the Adscam sponsorship scandal, the source said.
In virtually all areas, Reid finds the Conservatives' new legislation wanting.
During the recent election campaign, for instance, Harper promised a Conservative government would "require the prompt public disclosure of information revealed by whistleblowers ..." The pledge came in the wake of legislation passed earlier under the Liberals that said all documents related to a whistleblower's complaint could be kept secret for five years.
Instead, the Harper government is now proposing to give government the power to keep documents secret forever.
Reid notes in his report that if the provision had been law at the time of Adscam, the revelations of corruption and mismanagement likely never would have come to light.
The information commissioner is also expected to blast the Conservative government over at least a dozen other proposed measures in the new legislation -- which Reid says will make government even less accountable to Canadians.
Reid is expected to be particularly critical of the message Harper's secrecy-obsessed government is sending to public servants.
Reid's report, a source told the Sun, warns that "the magnitude of the proposed secrecy shift in the (Accountability Act) sends a powerful signal to the bureaucracy that the government values secrecy over openness."
Letters to the editor should be sent to feedback@ott.sunpub.com.