Afghan docs committee producing no documents

OTTAWA – It has been one year to the day since Parliament reconvened after being prorogued to prevent the release of documents on Afghan detainee torture. Unfortunately, as predicted by New Democrats, the Committee has been silent and Canadians are no closer to finding the truth about these troubling allegations.

“The Conservatives prorogued Parliament to prevent MPs from gaining access to these documents. Exactly one year after Parliament reconvened, we are still in the dark,” said NDP Defence Critic Jack Harris, MP for St. John’s East. “The Committee hasn’t made a single document public, just like the Conservatives wanted. The Bloc and Liberals are taking part in a charade and making a mockery of the Speaker’s ruling – and Gilles Duceppe coming out with a toothless ultimatum now is laughable.”

Parliament was forced to act after the Conservatives used every trick in the book to avoid releasing the information. In April 2010, the Speaker of the House ruled that the government had disregarded a vote that took place in December 2009 on access to these documents. He ruled that Parliament had the right to see these documents despite government claims to secrecy. His ruling also gave the Harper government a deadline to come up with an arrangement to give other parties access to the documents.

The four parties reached an agreement in principle in favour of a plan that would strike a fair balance between national security and the public’s right to know. However, the NDP refused to sign a deal after the Liberals and the Bloc agreed with the Conservatives to keep certain escape clauses in place. New Democrats warned these measures would allow the government to hijack the process and prevent necessary legal documents and Cabinet records from being made available to Parliament and the public.

Since then a cone of silence has descended on the process. “Our predictions are coming true,” said NDP Foreign Affairs Critic, Paul Dewar, MP for Ottawa Centre. “It is time for the Liberals and the Bloc to acknowledge that this committee has failed. A full public inquiry is the only way that we will ever know the truth.”

Yvon Godin, NDP MP for Acadie–Bathurst, pointed out that the Bloc Québécois Leader said in December 2010 that documents would be made public starting in January. “And yet,” he added, “it’s already March and we haven’t seen a single document. In fact, Duceppe’s comments change nothing – we might be plunged into an election campaign before the truth comes out. That might help Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, but it won’t help Canadians learn the truth.”