Stephen Harper before the election: Canadian Cabinet Ministers and their staff will be covered by Canada’s access to information law… we’re all about accountability dammit
Stephen Harper after the election: Good luck on that one buddy, well see ya in court.
Federal government lawyers are in court battling a principle that Prime Minister Stephen Harper championed during the last election campaign.
Harper promised in 2006 to ensure that cabinet ministers and their offices would be covered by Canada’s access to information law.
Now the government is battling Canada’s information commissioner in federal court over whether cabinet ministers and their offices are part of the departments they oversee, and therefore subject to the access to information law.
After killing the Court Challenges Program, the whole election financing gig, and trying (and failing) to quietly snuff the information registry set up by that flaming Liberal Brian Mulroney and his gang of leftist commies, one has to wonder if Harper will have the balls to dust off the accountability flag during the next election campaign.
On second thought I don’t wonder at all, he will…. and the partisans will conveniently forget all of the above (or chorus in unison “but the Liberals were worse, but the Liberals were worse !!”) , and rank and file Canadians will shrug, because we all know they’re all the same except for the colour of their ties… and this sort of shite simply re-enforces that fact.
Keep in mind that this was a Liberal court case, initiated by the Chretien government. At the time of the election, Harper was railing against anything Liberal - including this legal action.
Now he’s in the awkward position of having to fight to support a court action that was brought by the Liberals, and which he decried at the time.
Ironic, but not surprising given his penchant for secrecy.