"If the leader of the Opposition knows, you can be sure the government does," Dion said.
Dion would only say that "Canadian officials" told them about the change in policy but asked that they not make the information public.
Dion said he didn't agree that the information should be kept secret, but said he would not speak about it.
"We said this is information that Canadians have a right to have but they should hear that from the government because we don't have a right to disclose that information directly."
The government's disclosure that it no longer hands over detainees prompted accusations of a coverup from opposition parties. But the government has denied the allegations, saying it was up to the Canadian army to disclose matters related to military operations.
Amazing how the HarperCon$ try to slither out from under the dungload that their own mishandling of the Afghanistan file has dropped on them. Instead of treating it as a serious mission, with significant costs and consequences, they have used it as a propaganda tool for photo-ops.
Further, the drip that is current the Minister for National Defense, Peter Mackay, makes the following attempt to make it all the Liberals' fault:
Dion pointed out Friday that Defence Minister Peter Mackay was in Afghanistan when the policy on detainees changed. When questioned on the issue, MacKay refused to answer and criticized Dion instead.
"What Mr. Dion is doing, if he wants to be irresponsible and talk about briefings that he received, that's a decision for him. I am not going to put Canadian soldiers or the people that they're there to protect in harm's way by talking about operational details or what takes place in the theatre."
Hmmm...handover of prisoners is an "operational detail"? I don't think so, Peter. That doesn't even qualify as a bad excuse. You, sir, are the minister responsible, and you are similarly repsonsible for conveying that same information to the PMO and to the public.
Ms. Buckler's recent foul-up was either the result of a direct lie, or a massive miscommunication within the HarperCon government. In either case, it's appalling that you think it is "reasonable" to try and blame your screw up on the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. You are a disgrace to Canada and to Canadian democracy.
[Update 17:10]:
Just to further reinforce my point about the Harper Government being secretive and fundamentally dishonest, The Globe and Mail makes a few observations:
At a Tory caucus retreat Saturday, Tory House Leader Peter Van Loan and Quebec MP Christian Paradis issued identical statements in defence of their boss's spokeswoman.
“She's very credible,” Mr. Van Loan told a news conference.
“If everybody on the Hill who misspoke themselves once in their life had to resign, none of you would be here, I wouldn't be here, nobody would be here on Parliament Hill.”
Mr. Paradis later came out and repeated the line that if everybody who “misspoke” were forced to reign, the empty corridors on Parliament Hill would echo with the sound of silence.
But one telephone receiver was shaking with the sound of screaming as a livid Department of National Defence official vented his fury at the Prime Minister's Office.
The military official said his colleagues are incensed by the insinuation that they would be incompetent enough to withhold key details on a politically charged file from their civilian bosses.
In short, the HarperCon$ are exacerbating Buckler's lies with still more lies - again blaming "The Bureaucracy" in order to cover up their incompetence, just as they did when they blew it on the veiled voters question, or the Chalk River situation. Most governments need a couple of sessions before they start lying noticeably - it's taken the HarperCon$ less than two years to reach that point.
[/Update]
1 comment:
I don't have anything to add other than to agree with you completely. Well said.
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