Posts Tagged by national security
Milliken Ruling More About Democracy Than Detainees
| 4/29/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
On Tuesday Peter Milliken, the Speaker of the House of Commons, brought down his ruling on the Opposition parties motion which demanded that the Government turn over unredacted documents related to the Afghan detainee issue. Apparently, in the mind of the Prime Minister, that ruling was of such minor consequence it didn’t even warrant his attendance in the House to hear it.
Milliken upheld the supremacy of Parliament and its right to demand documents or even persons, claims of national security notwithstanding, to be delivered to it. He recognised that in the interest of national security not all documents can be delivered in public. He has called upon both sides of the House to do what Parliament has been doing for 140 years, to work out the differences and find a way to accommodate the supremacy of Parliament. He gave them two weeks to do so.
That is democracy in action. The government does (or should do) what is right and the Opposition provides oversight on behalf of the people.
Over the years, that basic principle has become eroded to the point it has, up until now, allowed a Prime Minister to behave more like a sovereign or President than a Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who truly understood the checks and balances within the system would never have stonewalled to the point that a ruling like Milliken was just called on to deliver would even have been needed.
The detainee issue is important in that Canadians should know if their government has failed to live up to our international obligations in regards to the safety of those detained by our military. Canadians know our troops have done what was required of them, the question is, did our government ensure those requirements were proper?
The government’s stonewalling and refusal to disclose documents to the Opposition to which it is entitled has moved the issue more to the question of what will it take for this Prime Minister to recognise his legal and moral responsibility to respect the Parliamentary rules and practices?
One day later, the Prime Minister rises in the House and gives every indication he intends to continue to defy the democratic principles he has been sworn to uphold. He hints that he is ready to take that defiance to the electorate. He tries to wrap himself in the flag and as the defender of the safety and well being of our troops fighting overseas.
Does he really think that the Canadian people are not smart enough to see the hypocrisy of his stand? Instead of truly supporting and leading our troops, Harper is cowering behind their good name to protect his own political ass.
His government has flatly turned down any suggestions by the Opposition to find middle ground which would allow a least some Opposition MPs to review the documents yet now claims that any ‘reasonable suggestion’ would be considered. Just who determines what is reasonable when we have an autocratic control freak Prime Minister?
Harper needs to find a way to step back from the edge, he might not like the ruling the Canadian people return on his contempt for the workings of our Parliament should he allow this to go to an election.
Opposition Goes After the Stalling
| 3/23/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Every now and again it becomes necessary for those elected to conduct the business of our democracy to be reminded of who they are supposed to represent. The people elect a Parliament who then forms a government and an official opposition based on which party received the most seats.
This seems like a pretty basic principle to know and to understand. The Prime Minister is subject to the will of Parliament, who is subject to the will of the people. When the Opposition parties voted on a motion back in December ordering the government to produce unredacted documents pertaining to the detainee issue, the response should have been pretty straightforward in adherence with the basic principle of Parliament.
The government has tried to throw a blanket claim of ‘national security’ around the affair and are refusing to release the documents. They didn’t even bother trying to go through the motions of trying to reach an agreement with the majority vote, they just stonewalled and then Harper prorogued the House.
Eventually the birds have to come home to roost and Parliament had to reconvene. Harper seemed to think that the December motion would be ignored, the Opposition rendered unable or unwilling to act. He’s wrong. Last Thursday the Liberals, followed by the NDP and the Bloc, rose to call on the Speaker of the House to rule on the motion. They have motions of their own which could lead to the Government being found in contempt of Parliament. (more…)
Galloway’s Banning Raises Questions
| 3/22/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News, Canadian Politics |
The Conservative government has denied controversial British MP George Galloway entry to Canada. He was due to arrive here next week for a speaking engagement. There appears to be some confusion over what the ban is about.
The Sun (British paper) reported it as being about his stand against the Afghanistan war while papers and some so called ‘officials’ this side of the pond attribute it to their claims of his supporting terrorism. In particular, they condemn him for his recently leading a convoy of 100 British citizens and vehicles into Gaza with humanitarian aid to the people there.
Canada, actually the minority Conservatives, refuse to recognize the elected Hamas government in Gaza as they are so staunchly supportive of Israel. Hamas and Hezbollah are legally terrorist groups under Canadian law. Galloway claims he will use every legal means available to him to fight the ban and will look at other ways of speaking to the group from outside Canadian borders, like presumably, teleconferencing. (more…)
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