Inside Politics

Rights & Democracy Watch: Meanwhile, in another part of the parliamentary forest ...

by Kady O'Malley Posted: March 18, 2010 12:03 PM Last Updated: April 21, 2010 9:36 AM
Taking a brief pause from our continuing coverage of the battle for parliamentary supremacy, a brief update on the latest developments on the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and its efforts to investigate the current state of affairs at the embattled agency: 

As regular readers will no doubt recall, at its last meeting, the committee had passed a motion inviting Jacques Gauthier and Aurel Braun -- president and chairman of the board, respectively -- to testify at a meeting that was to be held this morning. Sadly, the two were apparently forced to decline the request due to scheduling conflicts. 

There is, however, apparently no shortage of putative witness who are more than willing to appear before the committee and share their views on Rights and Democracy, according to this letter from Suzanne Trepanier, who, as she notes, was "the wife of Remy M. Beauregard, President of the organization until his sudden death": 

 Mr. Allison, President: 
Members of the Committee: 

 I am writing to you to request to appear before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development with respect to the Rights & Democracy's hearing. I am presenting this request as the wife of Remy M. Beauregard, President of the organization until his sudden death which happened last January 8th. 

The three dismissed managers, Marie-France Cloutier, Razmik Panossian and Charles Vallerand, as well as former board director Payam Akhavan, who resigned on last January 7th, have also requested to appear before the Committee, and I would like to be able to do so at the same time. 

 Considering the events I witnessed during the months preceding and following my husband's death, I think it is important that I can be heard, particularly to clear my husband's name in order to remove from the Privy Council Office all the documents regarding his evaluation that are still in his file. 

The allegations and comments, particularly those on his evaluation, have contributed to strongly affect his health. Since March 2009, my husband was constantly exposed to a lot of pressure from certain board directors, who seemed to have doubt in his management ability, and who interfered within his functions as President and chief executive officer of the organization, which exceeds their role as board directors. 

 This hearing will finally give me the opportunity to express myself, in spite of my sorrow and grief, on a situation that has been lasting for months, and which has profoundly damaged the perception on the Canadian actions with respect to human rights and democracy, at the national and international levels. 

 I thank you in advance for your attention to my request, and I remain, 

 Yours sincerely, 

 Suzanne R. Trepanier

Due to the aforementioned BfPS, I was, alas, unable to make it to this morning's meeting, but I'm told that her request is being debated as we speak; the Conservatives, it seems, appear to be less than keen to call the vote. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: Okay, so by the sounds of it, we can now officially call this as the first government-orchestrated filibuster of the new session: the meeting ended without the motion to call the above witnesses being put to a vote, which means it gets bumped to the end of the next meeting, which is scheduled for next Tuesday. 

Now, I don't want to alarm anyone, but this is exactly how both Procedure and House Affairs and Justice began their respective meltdowns into total anarchy during the Great Dysfunctional Committee Pandemic of Aught Eight. That said, I'm sure that even the most loquacious Conservative wouldn't want it to look like his side was trying to prevent a grieving widow from appearing before committee to clear her husband's name, so I'm sure the chair will call the vote in a timely fashion. 
 
WITNESS LIST UPDATE: Good news! Rights and Democracy chairman Aurel Braun has managed to carve an hour out of his busy schedule to appear before committee next Tuesday, although Gauthier has yet to confirm that he can be there for the first hour, and on March 30th, incoming R&D president Gerard Latulippe will offer his perspective. 

Tags: blackberry jungle, r&dwatch, rights and democracy