Comments on: Has the Detainee Document Deal Gone Sideways?

By: Victim of torture in

Victim of torture in — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:08:02 +0000

The Harper Government, in its zeal to comply with the Bush people tortured American citizens in Canada. I am one of them which included water boarding .

There are many worldwide whom know about this. I don't blame the Canadian People, however, I hold those, including Harper responsible.

South of the border, many know about what happened to us there.

The best thing that can happen is for a Scotland Yard investigation of the Harper team. Many things, we believe will be exposed for the benefit of the People of Canada and the future of Civil Rights in Canada for all.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:03:34 +0000

Matthew, the point Mick Steers makes is a valid one: all the opposition parties, including the NDP, managed to snatch defeat for parliamentary supremacy from the jaws of victory. They were so desperate to avoid an election that they signed on to a hasty, sketchy, and fundamentally flawed compromise at the last minute (May 14) that saved the Harper government from being found in contempt of Parliament, and allowed Harper to stall the inquiry.

The Speaker set a deadline for an all-party agreement; this effectively gave each of the opposition parties a veto – a position the NDP hasn't been in for many years. Once the Speaker's deadline had passed, and the parties had reached an "agreement", the pressure was off the government, and the battle was effectively lost.

For the NDP to walk out later was just a matter of buyer's remorse. The devil was not, as Reg Whitaker asserts, in the details: It was plain for all to see in the original agreement.

By: MickSteers

MickSteers — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:24:42 +0000

All of that preening and posturing following the Speaker's fabulous ruling was just pantomime. What will the opposition parties not cave over? They just voluntarily ceded the supremacy of parliament, thereby disenfranchising the sole source of their legitimacy, the electorate.

Frustrated at the ballot box with the clock running, Stephen Harper seems to be channeling Karl Rove. What is too contentious or just too tedious to pursue through the legislature can be achieved by simpler, quieter means. With the right wording and the right stooges ready to play their assigned roles, the party in power can completely pervert the will of Parliament – right out in the open, with nary a peep from anyone but those silver-spoon socialists.

Unready and unwilling to face the electorate, the other parties play-act to their respective constituencies, then capitulate on substance. Aside from common opposition catnip issues, the Harper government has a free pass to enact almost any of its policy planks.

Watch for more aggressive administrative tinkering and creative staffing in all sorts of regulatory and operational areas.

South of the border, they are just getting the first inklings of how deeply damaged and corrupted their agencies have become. Finance, oil and product safety have already blown up, but I'm sure more surprises await. They lie buried like time bombs in departments whose mission, spending or beneficiaries displeased the executive.

It'd be great if any big Canadian media had the wherewithal or the interest in watching these sort of arcane bureaucratic acrobatics more closely.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:25:40 +0000

This is so disappointing. Democracy has turned back on itself. The NDP were right to walk out.