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Impolitical (Free subscription) | yesterday
First up, Professor Errol Mendes powerfully sets out what is at stake for Canada as Richard Colvin's allegations of Afghan detainees handed over by Canada to a knowingly torturous regime have come to the fore. An important read for anyone wanting to understand the scope of the possible damage done here and the important implications for Canadian democracy and the rule of law that are embodied in the...
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we move to canada (Free subscription) | yesterday
Bravo Rick Salutin! Our own little Abu Ghraib? The nauseating component in current claims and reactions about Canada's role in turning Afghan detainees over for torture does not lie in the betrayal of some mythic Canadian role as an idealistic actor on the world stage – as opposition questions implied in the House of Commons yesterday. We have always played an ambiguous, often duplicitous, role...
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Canadian Cynic (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Over at Spanky's Sandbox and Pillow Fort, The Politic 's Charles Anthony postulates about a public torture inquiry rather puzzlingly : That attitude is unsatisfactory. An inquiry is only as good as it satisfies the level of scrutiny of all the left-wing and right-wing wack-jobs involved. In other words, you will spend more of my taxes to subsidize professional arguers on both sides of the fences who...
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Freddie P (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Here's a message to all of the bleeding heart Liberals who are thoroughly enjoying the bullshit focus that's been placed upon the Harper government this week. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Right off the top lets establish this, Taliban forces in Afghanistan long ago adopted a tactic of falsely accusing Coalition troops of mistreating detainees so this is nothing new. Other countries like Australia...
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Randy McDonald's Livejournal (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Posted without comment, taken from the CBC. All detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials and many of the prisoners were innocent, says a former senior diplomat with Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Appearing before a House of Commons committee Wednesday, Richard Colvin blasted the detainees policies of Canada and compared them with the policies...
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liberal catnip (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Via the CBC : Defence Minister Peter MacKay defended his government Thursday in the face of claims that detainees in Afghanistan were routinely abused by Afghan authorities after being handed over by Canadian soldiers. "There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces," MacKay said Thursday in the House of Commons....
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JURIST (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
[JURIST] A former senior Canadian diplomat alleged Wednesday that the Canadian military was complicit in the torture of Afghans by their own government, during testimony before the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. Richard Colvin, who represented the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in Kandahar from 2006-2007 and is currently the...
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CommonDreams.org Headlines (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
All detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials and many of the prisoners were innocent, says a former senior diplomat with Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Appearing before a House of Commons committee Wednesday, Richard Colvin blasted the detainees policies of Canada and compared them with the policies of the British and the Netherlands. The detainees...
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Gen X at 40 (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
I had a sense that there was the word going out this week to raise little bubbles of discredit of the legislative process when young Tory Stephen Taylor ¹ put out the message "did you know that 15 minutes in the House of Commons costs the taxpayer $75,000?" Makes sense. Dad's out of town . Juniors have to be kept in line. With performances like these , well, he may be right: “Yesterday...
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Runesmith's Canadian Content (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
John Baird was in full 'Duck-and-Cover' mode today when confronted with the accidentally un-redacted correspondence between his Ministry and the major airlines. Baird said there's nothing nefarious about the relationship, adding "we're been working constructively with the airlines." Really? Is that what you call it? Because I can think of a couple of other terms for it, John. But that's not...
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Full Comment (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
Canada has once again finished well in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, the Berlin-based NGO announced yesterday -- in eighth place, tied with Australia. This is good news: Only 50 million or so people on Earth trust their governments more than we do to act in good faith, and in their best interests. Unfortunately, the same day, a Canwest News Service report demonstrated...
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Morton's Musings (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
This story reflects, perhaps, a reality of politics. Sometimes Ministers have to be publicly support policy that privately they disagree with. As a reality that is as reality but when the duplicity is revealed it looks awful: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html'id=2229584 Transport minister tried to kill passenger rights bill despite publicly supporting it Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News...
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Buckdog (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
124 years ago today, in Regina, Louis Riel, the leader of the Metis was executed by the Government of Canada. Riel is widely considered by many to be a father of Confederation because his vision and fight for the rights of First Nations people led to the entrance of both Manitoba and Saskatchewan into Confederation. Louis David Riel was elected three times to the House of Commons of Canada, on October...
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Sify (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009
Lacking a majority in Canada's House of Commons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits India from Monday with a delegation of eight prominent Indo-Canadians, fuelling speculation that he is eyeing valuable Punjabi and Gujarati votes.
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Medical News Today (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009
The Government of Canada launched a national awareness campaign focused on key farm management practices that will help keep animals healthy and safeguard the Canadian food supply. The announcement was made today by Larry Miller, MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
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