Thud!!!!

The sound of 2,500 pages falling on the Speaker's desk. His office now needs to photocopy those thousands of pages for the opposition MPs. It came in a cardboard box with no warning at all. These heavily censored documents were released by the Tories to try to avoid three of their ministers being in contempt of Parliament. This action actually shows more contempt. They just dumped a pile of documents on the Speaker's office. This kept the opposition MPs and journalists waiting for hours for photocopies. Stephen Harper calls himself a strong leader. Well, it's time he became more responsible.

"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," New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton told the Commons. While MPs have been fighting for several months for access to uncensored documents, they wound up with "a pile of censored documents" produced without notice or ceremony.

Also, the documents were not translated into French, one of Canada’s official languages. Well, It would certainly make life easier for francophone MPs to read in French. Another display of irresponsibility.

Holding up a page that was completed blacked out, Bloc MP Claude Bachand mocked the government's request for unanimous consent for tabling the documents because they are not translated into both official languages. How long would a blank page take to translate, he wondered.

This is a complete political move meant to quiet the opposition. The Conservatives want to say, “We’ve done everything we have to do. Now shut your mouths!” It will not work. This display of total disregard is disgusting. And the Tories say that releasing documents in this manner will  continue to be done. So, the MPs will continue to wait in line for their photocopies. And imagine, that’s not in an airport.
You can read about the new releases at the CBC, the National Post, the Toronto Star and two articles at the Globe and Mail, here and here.