Inside Politics

Document Dump Redux: Better late (and redacted) than never?

So it turns out that committee members did, indeed, eventually get their collective investigative mitts on the additional documents released by Amnesty International last Wednesday, albeit a day -- actually, in the case of the NDP's Paul Dewar, two days -- late, and a whole lot of blacked-out text short. 

According to an exceptionally helpful communications staffer with the Afghanistan Task Force, the material was originally given to the Department of Justice by Richard Colvin, and then passed on to Foreign Affairs, which then delivered it to the committee -- "as a courtesy" -- at approximately noon on Wednesday, December 3, two days after the first batch had arrived. 

For reasons still unknown, however, the additional nineteen documents -- summarized here -- did not make it into the white binders handed out at the meeting that afternoon. Nor, as far as I can tell, were committee members made aware of its existence until the following day, when the clerk sent out an email just before 5pm stating that they had "just" received the second binder. Luckily for the Liberals, a staffer in Ujjal Dosanjh's office was around to sign for the package when it arrived by messenger later that evening, but Dewar wasn't quite so fortunate: his package didn't show up until late Friday.  

But at least they've got what they asked for now, right? All's well that ends well? Not quite. 

Newly emboldened by a letter from House Law Clerk Rob Walsh that confirms what he already told the committee when it began these hearings -- namely, that even if providing the requested documents without redaction "presents concern for the Government in relation to national security matters ... at the end of the day, the Government is obliged to supply to the Committee whatever information it requests" --  opposition members will almost certainly want to know why the government is still refusing to provide the uncensored versions of all the memos, reports and correspondence that the committee has requested. This may very well be headed back to the House -- and the Speaker -- for a ruling on whether the privilege of parliamentarians -- and Parliament itself -- has been breached. 

 

Tags: afghanistan committee, blackberry jungle