The final agreement on Afghan detainee documents will apparently not be released, for whatever reason, until it is ready to be tabled in the House. In the meantime, the NDP and Liberals are engaging in an exchange of news releases: the NDP pronouncing shame, the Liberals declaring victory (and pronouncing shame).
The final agreement on Afghan detainee documents will apparently not be released, for whatever reason, until it is ready to be tabled in the House. In the meantime, the NDP and Liberals are engaging in an exchange of news releases: the NDP pronouncing shame, the Liberals declaring victory (and pronouncing shame).
Last night, the Liberals sent out a list of corrections to the NDP’s version of events that included an excerpt of the deal. A draft of unknown origin has since been leaked to the Globe, that draft then deemed a failure by an outside expert. Unfortunately, the Liberal version and the leaked draft don’t seem to match on perhaps the most crucial point.
To wit, the leaked draft contains a clause that reads, “Recognizing that Cabinet confidences and information subject to solicitor-client privilege are classes of information that the Parliament of Canada has long recognized are not necessary or appropriate for the purpose of holding the Government to account.”
According to the Liberal side, that clause now reads, “Recognizing that Cabinet confidences and information subject to solicitor-client privilege are classes of information that the Parliament of Canada has long recognized are sensitive and may require protection from disclosure.”
This may or may not matter. But that all of this might be settled with the prompt release of the actual and agreed-upon agreement would seem too obvious a solution.