Well the NDP press conference is over, and I don’t think I can say that it was very successful for them. They started off by saying the the whole committee is a sham. Then they said that Iacobucci should not be on the committee because he has a conflict of interest because he is a former judge for Justice Ministry. They are implying that he could potentially be bribed by the Government. This is a pretty ridiculous claim; in my opinion he is just as likely to be bribed by the Government as anyone else on the committee. His former employment with the Government has nothing to do with him being more susceptible to bribes. One reporter pointed out that had the NDP not walked out of the meeting, they would have had a say in the appointment of members to the committee, and could have in fact vetoed Iacobucci.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Afghan detainee document details; now what, NDP?
Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson has announced that the members of the Ad Hoc Committee reviewing the Afghan detainee documents are: the Honourable Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, C.C., G.O.Q., the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, C.C., Q.C., and the Honourable Donald I. Brenner, Q.C.
For those of you that forgot, the Government and two of the opposition parties (Liberal and Bloc) arrived at a deal regarding months and months of conflict surrounding the release of Afghan detainee documents. The Government didn’t want them released, citing national security concerns, while the opposition wanted then release immediately after accusations of torture surfaced.
The deal they arrived at stated that an Ad Hoc committee of experts would be established to determine which documents could be released, and how to release them without jeopardizing national security. The Liberals and Bloc agreed that this was as close to fair as possible, while the NDP disagreed. The NDP was so disgruntled by this that they walked out of the meeting, and attempted to convince the house that this was a breach of parliamentary privilege, and even that the Government was in contempt of the house. Unfortunately for them, the Speaker ruled that the deal was acceptable.
With these latest details begin released, one might wonder what the NDP is going to do. Well luckily one doesn’t have to wait for long, as the NDP have scheduled a press conference at 3 pm. You can watch the liveblog courtesy of CBC and Kady O’Malley at 3 pm, or you can check back here later for the details.