The Harper/CPC government, in its continued commitment to secrecy, has negotiated and signed an expanded NORAD treaty with the USA without any public announcement or revelation. Reporters who chased down the story had to get conformation from US sources.
It's not that I have anything against a renewed NORAD agreement or that it is being expanded to include maritime surveillance. But a government that supposedly is committed to accountability and openness, it is hypocritical behaviour to say the least. (The Globe and Mail reported this morning that the federal freedom of information commissioner has severely criticised the government's proposed FOI bill for how it will compromise access and make it more difficult for the public to view public records and documents.)
With each passing day we are seeing the contempt this new CPC government has for Canadians and the electorate - keep 'em in the dark and feed them platitudes. It's an astonishing transformation from the party's 2006 election campaign promise.
The Toronto Star 2006 04 29
"Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador in Canada, signed the new pact at a "ceremony in Ottawa," according to Janelle Hironimus, a spokesperson with the U.S. State Department. Yet in Ottawa, officials with the Harper government tried to keep word of the renewal under wraps.
"There was no notification of any signing ceremony. Officials at both the foreign affairs department and defence department initially refused to confirm that a deal had been signed. But after persistent questioning, defence officials finally acknowledged that the two nations had brokered a new defence agreement."
"Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador in Canada, signed the new pact at a "ceremony in Ottawa," according to Janelle Hironimus, a spokesperson with the U.S. State Department. Yet in Ottawa, officials with the Harper government tried to keep word of the renewal under wraps.
"There was no notification of any signing ceremony. Officials at both the foreign affairs department and defence department initially refused to confirm that a deal had been signed. But after persistent questioning, defence officials finally acknowledged that the two nations had brokered a new defence agreement."
It's not that I have anything against a renewed NORAD agreement or that it is being expanded to include maritime surveillance. But a government that supposedly is committed to accountability and openness, it is hypocritical behaviour to say the least. (The Globe and Mail reported this morning that the federal freedom of information commissioner has severely criticised the government's proposed FOI bill for how it will compromise access and make it more difficult for the public to view public records and documents.)
With each passing day we are seeing the contempt this new CPC government has for Canadians and the electorate - keep 'em in the dark and feed them platitudes. It's an astonishing transformation from the party's 2006 election campaign promise.
