First Reading (11/30/09)

Today's essential political reads:

1) It ain't over yet on Afghan detainees... and goody! there are more documents:

• Kady's been giving Christie Blatchford's column from Saturday a serious going-over, and Blatchford's got another installment today.
• Richard Brennan in the Star has documents that include testimony from the former director general of the Afghanistan Task Force who said Canada did not investigate the torture claims it received, but simply passed them on to the Afghans.
• Canwest's Matthew Fisher talked to a Red Cross official on the ground in Afghanistan who's mightily displeased with Colvin's testimony.
• David Pugliese has documents from Afghanistan's intelligence agency that include complaints about troops detaining individuals without proof of their connections to the Taliban.
• Campbell Clark has an analysis piece asking why it took Canada so long to change its procedures.
• Missed on Friday but reprinted elsewhere today: Licia Corbella from the Calgary Herald says what's needed is a proper definition of torture.
• Paul Chapin offers valuable background for those still trying to get their heads around what's happened.
• A National Post editorial talks about what can be learned from the whole Colvin affair.

2) The government's working on back to work legislation to end the CN Rail strike, that could be introduced as early as today.

3) Greenaway and Delacourt had previews of Minister Finley's announcement this morning on a new federal-provincial accord on the recognition of foreign credentials.

4) The Prime Minister's now ready to make 'minor adjustments' and 'tweak' Canada's climate change plan... or so he said in Port of Spain at the Commonwealth heads of state gathering this weekend. Monbiot urges Canada to get on with it, while Worthington gives the skeptics props. Also accomplished: a nuclear deal with India (remember the promise of that from his earlier trip?), a rebuke for Uganda, and a new member for the club, Rwanda.

5) And looking forward to the PM's next trip, which will see him in China next weekend: Schiller, Ibbitson, and academic Charles Burton offer scene-setters.