Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Toews denies muzzling RCMP, blasts Liberal senator’s bid for ‘secret’ access

OTTAWA—Public Safety Minister Vic Toews lashed out at a Liberal senator Friday, and denied the Conservatives have moved to muzzle the Mounties or restrict access to the new RCMP boss.

Toews said Friday the Conservatives merely continued a Liberal policy of monitoring what information the RCMP conveys to parliamentary committees.

His office produced a letter that former Liberal public safety minister Anne McLellan wrote in the fall of 2005 to then-commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli in 2005.

It said she expected the RCMP to give her officials full briefings on information the Mounties would communicate in committee appearances, and complete information on issues so she would be fully briefed for question period debates.

The letter did not address requests for private meetings with RCMP officials by MPs or senators.

Toews publicly scolded Sen. Colin Kenny for seeking “a special access, secret meeting” with RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.

Kenny went public Thursday with emails from Toews’ office that said Kenny could meet Paulson only if other political representatives also attended.

“The commissioner of RCMP will meet with whom he chooses to meet with and claims that he is being muzzled is (sic) baseless and inaccurate,” Toews said.

Toews defended his desire to screen who the RCMP officials talk to in private, saying he had to ensure his own accountability to Parliament and “fair access by other parliamentarians to key security institutions within my portfolio, institutions which must not be used for political purposes.”

Kenny expected special treatment because he thought “he knew more about policing matters than other parliamentarians,” said Toews.

In a statement emailed to the Star Friday, Kenny called Toews’ “goofy idea” unworkable and said “it is clearly designed to ensure there is a Conservative chaperone at every meeting.”

He said no such access guidelines were ever distributed to parliamentarians during the Liberal regime or during the minority Conservative era.

“To say that I want ‘secret’ meetings is not only a cheap shot, it’s untrue. I am quite happy that the Minister be aware of every official I have ever met with, and if the RCMP Commissioner wants to relay every word that passes between us to Mr. Toews, that’s up to him.”

In an emailed statement to the CBC, which the RCMP sent to the Star, Paulson defended himself, saying he does not want to “politicize” his position, but suggested other people do.

Paulson said he believed “guidelines” requiring parliamentarians to “route their requests through the appropriate department” are a “courtesy to their fellow parliamentarians who have ministerial responsibility and accountability for whatever the department is that is being approached. That seems entirely reasonable to me.”

Original Article
Source: Star 
Author: Tonda MacCharles 

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