Tory, Liberal attempts to root out former BQ members among NDP ranks similar to Cold War tracking of politicians like Tommy Douglas

PARLIAMENT HILL—A Federal Court judgment Wednesday that was critical of RCMP spying on the NDP’s founding leader Tommy Douglas sparked New Democrats to compare Cold War tracking of politicians and suspected communist sympathizers decades ago to Conservative and Liberal attempts to root out former Bloc Québécois members and supporters in their ranks over the past two weeks.

The ruling from Federal Court Justice Simon Noel ordered Library and Archives Canada to review its refusal to disclose hundreds of pages of RCMP intelligence archival material on Mr. Douglas, the CCF premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, when he became the NDP’s first leader after it was formed that year.

Judge Noel’s ruling was the latest development in a court battle between Canadian Press journalist Jim Bronskill and Library and Archives Canada over the disclosure of up to at least 1,142 pages of RCMP files on Mr. Douglas, the bulk of which the archives has refused to divulge under the Access to Information Act on grounds its release could harm government attempts to detect, prevent or suppress “subversive or hostile” activities and would disclose personal information it claims must be protected under Access to Information Act restrictions.

The latest spotlight on the government watch over Mr. Douglas prompted NDP MPs Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) and Joe Comartin (Windsor-Tecumseh, Ont.) to compare it to Conservative, and Liberal, attacks on NDP Interim Leader Nycole Turmel’s (Hull-Aylmer, Que.) past membership in the Bloc Québécois, as well as a left-wing provincial separatist fringe party, and criticism that other new NDP MPs and organizers had also been Bloc members.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) suggested Ms. Turmel’s link to the Bloc, which she said she joined to lend support to a friend in the Bloc caucus, puts into question the NDP’s commitment to federalism. The Conservative Party, after the NDP and Liberals pointed out Transport Minister Denis Lebel (Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean, Que.) had a membership in the Bloc Québécois, named seven Liberal candidates in the 2004 election who had previously been prominent members and organizers of the BQ and the Parti Québécois.

“There is a climate, a culture of fear that’s being, if not promoted, then certainly exploited by certain forces, not unlike the Cold War climate. Anybody associated with the Bloc will have to wear a scarlet letter soon,” Mr. Martin said of the government assault that began with the Globe and Mail initial report on Aug. 2 that Ms. Turmel had to give up a Bloc membership in order to become an election candidate for the NDP.

Mr. Martin claimed the Conservatives are using similar tactics to generate support for an omnibus crime bill the government plans to introduce in Parliament this fall.

“Maybe it’s typical of times of economic stress that people start to exhibit these characteristics of suspicion and fear and then that can be exploited,” said Mr. Martin. “It’s a cheesy thing to do, but it’s a bit of a modus operandi. Even in light of crime statistics going down, the Conservatives would have you believe some junkie is going to murder you in your sleep if you don’t vote for their tough on crime agenda.”

Although Mr. Bronskill had already received several hundreds of pages in the ATI battle he began six years ago showing the Mounties spied on Mr. Douglas for nearly five decades, attending his speeches and even eavesdropping on private conversations, Judge Noel listed a range of further document areas that he said should also be disclosed. They include the identification of some RCMP sources for their information about the political giant, documents where he was mentioned in passing and assessments and opinions of Mr. Douglas by RCMP officers.

Judge Noel gave Library and Archives Canada three months to review its refusals to disclose in those areas, and 30 days to “justify, in writing” whether it has any further information on Mr. Douglas beyond the list of files that have already been cited.

Mr. Douglas led the NDP until 1971 and died in 1986. Judge Noel took the unusual step of citing Mr. Douglas’s role in Canadian politics and the value records of the RCMP suspicion and spying hold for the country. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, created in 1984 to replace the Mountie intelligence service after it was disgraced by an inquiry into illegal acts by agents, continued spying on Mr. Douglas for the final two years of his life.

“Much can be said of his accomplishments both as a Member of Parliament and as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan,” Judge Noel wrote about Mr. Douglas, often cited as the father of medicare in Canada. “The court mentions in passing Mr. Douglas’s spearheading of the creation of the first Medicare plan. It is clear that both history and Canadians from coast to coast have much to learn about Mr. Douglas, and this application can be seen as contributing in this respect.”

Mr. Comartin said the Douglas case, in light of Judge Noel’s finding that the refusal to disclose much of the information was unjustified, also reflects recent Federal Court cases that found the government had wrongly suppressed information in national security cases of alleged terrorist activity, including the extradition and torture of Maher Arar.

He said the government’s statements about Ms. Turmel and other Quebec NDP members who were Bloc supporters encourages the kind of suspicions the Mounties had about Mr. Douglas.

“That kind of mindset, when they release the names of people who ran for parties, either Bloc or PQ, that mindset encourages this kind of behaviour by security services,” said Mr. Comartin.

Origin
Source: Hill Times