Layton to Ignatieff, Duceppe: end detainee docs charade

OTTAWA  – One year after Parliament voted to demand documents relating to the torture of Afghan detainees, Jack Layton is calling on his opposition counterparts to cancel their failed disclosure deal with the Harper government and insist on a public inquiry instead.

“Stephen Harper has done everything in his power to hide what his government knew about the treatment of Afghan detainees. Now he’s doing it again, but with help from the Liberals and the Bloc,” said Layton at a press conference today. “Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Duceppe, end this charade today and join us in holding Mr. Harper accountable.”

In April, the House Speaker censured the government for ignoring last December’s vote. That ruling gave Mr. Harper a deadline to develop a disclosure process with other parties. All four parties agreed in principle on a plan that would balance national security with the public’s right-to-know. New Democrats pulled out of the process when the Conservatives insisted on loopholes that let the government hijack the process and exclude a wide variety of legal and cabinet documents from ever becoming public.

“A full year after Parliament demanded those documents, this charade hasn’t made a single document public. It flies in the face of the Speaker’s ruling. Instead of holding this government to account, my opposition colleagues are helping to shield records at the heart of this investigation,” said Defence Critic Jack Harris. “If they couldn’t see it six months ago, surely they can see it now: We need a public inquiry.”

“Torture allegations are swirling out there, and Canada’s still handing detainees over to the notorious NDS,” added Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar. “Canadians look to Parliament to monitor Canada’s compliance with international humanitarian law and we’re being obstructed in that duty. When Wikileaks becomes our leading information source, you know we need a public inquiry.”