Ottawa

Vic Toews stands with Vic Toews

The Public Safety Minister writes to the National Post to counter the suggestion he was not entirely well-acquainted with his own legislation.

At no point was I “surprised” during that interview. The text of the bill accords in every respect with my expressed understanding.

And that should be no surprise. I’ve been involved in the broader discussion on how to ensure our laws are brought up to speed with rapidly evolving technology since I was the Attorney General in Manitoba over a decade ago.

Matt Gurney’s not convinced. My feeling when this first became news was that Mr. Toews’ comments on The House could be interpreted two ways: that he was previously unaware of the content of Section 17 or that he had not before heard the interpretation of Section 17 that Evan Solomon was offering. And I think I tend to believe the latter is closer to what the minister was trying to say.

Update 4:55pm. I am reminded that a previous attempt by Mr. Toews to correct the record via letter to the editor proved problematic.

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