Posted by Ian Bron
News Summary and Comment:
Today I lead with a few smaller stories, two being from the provinces. In Ottawa, the Ombudsman at Veteran’s Affairs is pointing a finger at bureaucrats for blocking programs designed to help disabled veterans. This is an issue which has renewed importance as many veterans are returning from Afghanistan with lifelong disabilities. It’s also part of a pattern which I and others have noticed: the general mistreatment of former military members by the public service. It’s shameful to think that people who have lived the easy life would be taking (or failing to take) action which would harm veterans.
In Alberta, the provincial auditor general is blasting the management of the province’s eHealth program, citing outrageous cost overruns and an absence of real measures of progress or success. The government spokesperson replied with the argument that one couldn’t put a price on lives. It’s a red herring – an intellectually dishonest (and insulting) line of reasoning which sidesteps the real issue. It also provides more evidence for my belief that there’s never been an information technology project that a government couldn’t make a complete mess of.
Meanwhile, the B.C. government is drawing more and more fire for its lack of transparency and cover-ups.
Finally, Wikileaks has dropped another bomb on the Pentagon by releasing over 90,000 documents about the U.S. war in Afghanistan. While commentators are saying there’s not a lot new, there is criticism of the government for over-classifying most of the documents. (The story in Canada, of course, is much the same.) With this latest release, Wikileaks can be sure to have the U.S. government gunning for it. With Wikileaks’ ever increasing profile, however, I’m not sure the powers-that-be will dare to act. At least not openly.
See you Thursday.
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Veterans Affairs Ombudsman Blames Bureaucrats for Cutbacks
Alberta’s AG Blasts Management of Provincial eHealth Initiative
B.C. Liberals Criticized for Lack of Transparency and Cover-ups
Wikileaks Releases U.S. Military Documents
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Veterans Affairs Ombudsman Blames Bureaucrats for Cutbacks
Ombudsman says bureaucrats blocking initiatives to help vets
Ottawa Citizen, July 23, 2010
Summary Stingy federal bureaucrats, including those at Privy Council Office and Treasury Board, are blocking initiatives that could help the country’s Afghan war veterans, the Veterans Ombudsman says.
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Alberta’s AG Blasts Management of Provincial eHealth Initiative
Alberta eHealth tab will top $1.4B
Calgary Herald, July 26, 2010
Summary: The Alberta government expects to spend upwards of $1.4 billion to implement electronic health records provincewide — including another $66 million this fiscal year — for a system the auditor general says has been poorly managed.
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B.C. Liberals Criticized for Lack of Transparency and Cover-ups
Gaffes grow worse when Liberals cover them up
The Province (Vancouver), July 25, 2010
Summary: A criticism of the provincial government’s efforts to cover up scandals.
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Wikileaks Releases U.S. Military Documents
The Duty to Leak
Government Accountability Project Blog, July 25, 2010
Summary: Wikileaks released more than 91,000 classified documents related to the Afghan war, which reveal in excruciating detail the uphill battle American troops have faced in battling the Taliban and in working with Pakistani “allies” who are also helping the Afghan insurgency. Our country needs to have a serious conversation about supposedly classified documents (under classification laws, you can’t classify something to hide its illegality or to avoid embarrassment) vs. the public’s right to know.
Leaked files expose ugly Afghan war
The Star (Toronto), July 26, 2010
Summary: An in-depth article on Julian Assange, the founder of the Internet whistleblowing site, Wikileaks.
Leaked Afghan files ‘only scratched the surface’: WikiLeaks
The Star (Toronto), July 26, 2010
Summary: The release of some 91,000 secret U.S. military documents on the Afghanistan war is just the beginning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange promised Monday, adding that he still has thousands more Afghan files to post online.
