Roundup: Eminent Canadians push back

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The anti-terror legislation again dominated the headlines yesterday, starting with a letter that four former Prime Ministers – Turner, Clark, Chrétien and Martin – along with 18 other eminent Canadians including five former Supreme Court justices, penned in the Globe and Mail about the need for better oversight of our national security agencies. You know, like the Martin government was trying to pass in 2004 before the Conservatives and NDP brought them down (and which Peter MacKay blatantly misconstrued in QP). What’s more baffling is that the government, by way of Jason Kenney, is now arguing that the bill doesn’t need more oversight because it gives more power to the courts to provide it. (Funnily enough, this is the same party who likes to moan about judicial activism). The problem with judicial oversight is that it also isn’t really oversight, and we have actual demonstrated cases where CSIS didn’t tell the truth when they went to the courts for a warrant. One of those cases is now waiting to be heard by the Supreme Court, because CSIS failed in their duty of candour. This is not a minor detail, but rather a gaping hole in the government’s argument. Oversight is a very important and necessary component, and it makes no sense that the government can keep ignoring it because it’s going to come around and bite them in the ass if they don’t get a handle on it, particularly when the bad things that happen come to light, and they always do, and we’ll have another Maher Arar-type situation.

Good reads:

  • The RCMP hasn’t been able to spend as much of a quarter of their budget for their much ballyhooed child exploitation programme, in part because of computer issues and the inability to consistently staff positions.
  • We’re sending RADARSAT-2 data to Ukraine on Russian troop movements – though we may not have enough data for our own needs.
  • Shared Services Canada can’t get their email system up and running, but they’re getting $32.5 million to upgrade the National Research Council’s cyber-security.
  • An Ottawa architect says the true value of the land being donated to the Victims of Communism memorial is really between $16 million to $30 million, meaning the actual donation the government is making to the project is at least in the $20 million range.
  • At Dean Del Mastro’s sentencing hearing, the Crown wants him to get nine to 12 months in prison plus to repay $10,000 to the riding association. Next date is in April.

Odds and ends:

The Senate National Security Committee also wants the Ottawa shooter video to be shown, if not made public.

Tony Clement says the $2.3 million spent on photographing cabinet ministers is “necessary” to communicate with Canadians. Meanwhile, they’ve just given themselves another $11 million in advertising until the end of the fiscal year.

Canada House in London re-opened yesterday, and the Queen was there to do it. Curiously, however, John Baird was also there and listed as foreign minister on the re-dedication plaque, dated for today. One would have thought he could have timed his departure for this.