News Summary and Comment
Welcome back to the Canadians for Accountability media updates. You’ll have to forgive me as I get used to blogging and figure out how to add new features to it. It’s a work in progress. Hints would be appreciated, by the way.
I will start with a wrap up of accountability and whistleblowing news from the past month.
As everyone knows, the government has prorogued Parliament – some say to head off having to face the music in the Afghan detainee controversy. Whether or not that’s true, nobody can deny that the issue has become a lightening rod and handling it badly – as the government has done – may well have cost the government any hopes of a majority it once had. Commentators are now turning their attention to military leaders such as retired Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier. They wonder why the media darling isn’t being grilled more about his role. I personally have lost a lot of respect for him, not least because of his classless insinuations about Richard Colvin. Now that evidence shows Hillier should have known what was going on, he looks more and more like a man who started to believe his own press and didn’t like any suggestions that he might not be perfect.
The Braidwood Inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski has been given the go-ahead to make findings of misconduct against the RCMP officers involved. The reason this was an issue is because the RCMP is a federal police force which contracts itself out to provinces, while the inquiry is a provincial affair. But commentators generally agree that the RCMP will be forced to act on the inquiry’s findings. Why? Well, the province has made strong hints that it will dump the RCMP and start its own force if it isn’t happy about the response. Given the questionable quality of RCMP services in recent years, many would cheer such an outcome in any event. The inquiry’s report should be out in the spring.
Perry Dunlop, the former police officer who blew the whistle on the systematic sexual abuse of minors in Cornwall is also back in the news. It appears that he is appealing his contempt of court conviction and sentence as cruel and unusual. I don’t know whether he will succeed, as he is attacking the “system”, as it were. I hope that there is an open airing of the facts around his time in prison, though, which was a real travesty. For whatever reason, his time in jail was made a s painful as possible.
Another big story was the issue of freedom of expression. Two judgments came back from the Supreme Court affirming the right of the press to make honest errors when pursuing a story. This will kill frivolous defamation lawsuits which individuals had used to muzzle the press and hide from scrutiny, and will greatly strengthen the press overall.
The federal Ethics Commissioner dismissed a complaint over government ads that Senator Martha Hall Findlay said looked suspiciously like Conservative Party ads. The reason: the Conservative Party isn’t a person or a corporation – rather, it’s an association. Whatever the merits of the complaint, this was an ethically and intellectually dishonest way to dismiss the complaint, and only serves to undermine the Commissioner’s moral authority. Such as it is, anyway.
Finally, I include a number of stories on political and corporate accountability. The assessment of the Harper government’s performance in this regard is generally bad, with Democracy Watch giving it an E. I find this an odd score, as generally D is the lowest score a person can get before F, but never mind.
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Afghan Detainee Controversy
Why are generals getting a free pass in Afghan affair?
The Star (Toronto), December 20, 2009
Summary: It is appropriate to have a debate about the torture of Taliban prisoners at the hands of Afghan security forces and we need to find the truth. But the present debate is incomplete. We have scrutinized the role of politicians and diplomats but no one has questioned the role of Canadian military leaders.
Feds and army brass deepened detainee crisis: transcripts
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Orders from former Canadian Forces chief of defence staff Rick Hillier and the federal Cabinet hindered Canadian troops as they were attempting to process Afghanistan detainees in compliance with international war law and likely contributed to severe detention conditions at the military police compound in Kandahar, previously unreleased documents indicate.
Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006
The Star (Toronto), December 21, 2009
Summary: Peter MacKay, Stockwell Day and Gordon O’Connor, then senior cabinet ministers, met the head of the International Red Cross in the fall of 2006 as the humanitarian organization tried to focus Canada’s attention on alleged abuses in Afghan prisons, The Canadian Press has learned.
Top brass, ministers accused of ducking responsiblities
The Star (Toronto). December 23, 2009
Summary: When the going gets tough, expect Canadian generals and cabinet ministers to disappear from accountability, a retired senior diplomat told a parliamentary committee.
Hillier accused of ‘trivializing’ torture at detainees hearing
Calgary Herald, December 23, 2009
Summary: Civil liberties lawyer Paul Champ on Tuesday accused retired general Rick Hillier of “trivializing” torture when the country’s former top soldier compared Afghan detainees and inmates at Ontario’s Millhaven penitentiary during testimony last month to a House of Commons committee.
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Inquiry into the Death of Robert Dziekanski
Dziekanski probe can find misconduct against Mounties
Calgary Herald, December 29, 2009
Summary: A finding of misconduct may be considered against four RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled.
Taser inquiry report held off until spring
Ottawa Citizen, January 5, 2010
Summary: The Braidwood inquiry report dealing with the fatal police incident involving a Polish immigrant at Vancouver’s airport two years ago won’t be sent to the attorney general until April or May, officials confirmed Tuesday.
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Perry Dunlop Fights for Justice
Dunlop’s fight for justice goes on
Cowichan Valley Citizen, January 15, 2010
Summary: Perry Dunlop, who blew the whistle on sexual abuse in Cornwall and was persecuted for years afterward, continues to fight for vindication and the rights of the children whose lives were damaged.
Cop at centre of Cornwall inquiry appeals contempt convictions
Canadian Press, January 18, 2010
Summary: The seven months a former police officer served in jail for refusing to testify at a public inquiry, largely of his own making, amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” the man writes in appealing his contempt convictions. Perry Dunlop led a crusade for years in Cornwall, Ont., to root out pedophiles and his work sparked calls for a public inquiry.
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Freedom of Speech
Supreme Court backs press in major libel ruling
The Star (Toronto), December 22, 2009
Summary: In a landmark ruling on freedom of expression, the Supreme Court of Canada has created a new legal defence to libel lawsuits that would shield journalists who fairly and responsibly report stories of public interest.
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Ethics Commissioner Dismisses Complaint over Ads
Ethics commissioner dismisses Liberal complaint over ads
Ottawa Citizen, January 13, 2010
Summary: Parliament’s ethics commissioner has dropped an investigation into allegations by a Liberal MP that the federal government used taxpayer dollars for advertising programs that were thinly disguised attempts to promote the Conservative party.
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Political Accountability
Harper assumes powers of executive privilege, U.S.-presidential style
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: A dispute that began with stonewalled reports of Afghan prisoner abuse is set to become the crucible that determines if the Prime Minister or Parliament is now supreme. (Column)
Management of errors
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Why do governments engage in secrecy and cover-ups rather than admit errors and accept responsibility for them? (Note that this op-ed is available to subscribers only)
Government receives ‘E’ on accountability report card
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Ethics and accountability in government advocacy group Democracy Watch gave the Conservative government an “E” last week on its accountability measures, three years after introducing the Federal Accountability Act. (Note that this article is available to subscribers only)
Ex-watchdog boss warns on objectivity
Calgary Herald, January 4, 2010
Summary: The former RCMP watchdog says the government must change the way it appoints heads of independent commissions so they don’t become beholden to their political bosses.
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Corporate Accountability
Passing the buck and covering the butt in middle management
Whistleblowers Protection Blog, January 1, 2010
Summary: Washington attorney, former prosecutor and former SEC enforcer Dan Hurson has written an article of advice for middle managers who become targets of internal corporate investigations. Canadians should pay attention as many companies here are covered by U.S. laws.
