General

Tories dump detainee documents

MPs outraged after government delivers 2,500 censored pages to House

The Conservative government has made two boxes full of heavily censored documents relating to the Afghan detainee scandal available to opposition MPs. While the Commons Speaker’s office scrambles to photocopy the papers for distribution, many politicians are already criticizing the move. “I have to say it’s a sad day when members of Parliament request information and they are treated in such a contemptuous fashion by the government,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton, while Bloc MPs have mocked some entirely blacked out pages and NDP defence critic Jack Harris called the action an insulting “political stunt.” Opposition parties have been fighting for months to get uncensored copies of the documents, which the government has withheld for security reasons, and are now threatening to launch contempt proceedings if the Tories don’t comply. Speaker Peter Milliken has heard the opposition’s arguments, and says he will give the government time to respond before making a ruling on whether the information needs to be released.

Canada.com

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