The Canadian Press 03/06/2013 - On his way to becoming Canada's top cop, Bob Paulson told internal reviewers the national security certificate process for detaining suspected terrorists was "completely off the rails," newly released documents show. In an interview with an auditor examining the controversial program, Paulson, now RCMP commissioner, expressed concerns about excessive state secrecy in certificate proceedings. The national security certificate is a seldom-used tool for removing non-citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage from Canada. "In my view, we over-claim the protection of sources and methods and this is convenient if you can get away with it," say notes from the October 2009 interview, recently released under the Access to Information Act.

Paulson was assistant RCMP commissioner for national security at the time of the interview. Two years later, he was picked by the Conservative government to become commissioner. The discussion was part of a 2009-10 federal evaluation of the "relevance and performance" of the security certificate initiative, which had been revamped in 2008 after elements were found to be unconstitutional.

 

Ottawa Citizen 03/06/2013 - Not only does the federal government look foolish when it hunts down "leaks" that came from press releases or access to information requests; it looks untrustworthy. The government's instinct to hide information - even good-news stories that other  countries make public - makes it look as if it has something to hide, even when it doesn't. On May   10, 2012, the Citizen's reporter, David Pugliese, blogged about details of Canada's involvement in an international military exercise. The post begins with, "It's even difficult for the Canadian Forces to get permission these days from the Conservative government to talk about what they consider 'good news' stories. It's almost a total clampdown on information." Pugliese goes on to explain that the U.S. Navy had announced Canada's involvement, while Canada had yet to send out a press release. The Citizen recently discovered - through an access to information request - that the office of Defence Minister Peter MacKay requested an investigation into Pugliese's sources, by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service. 

Le Devoir 01/06/2013 -Adopted quickly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act is primarily a "political" act to reassure the population and to meet the requirements of our American neighbor. That is the claim made by the Ligue des droits et libertés in a 2005 brief. By restoring, in April, two of its controversial provisions in the wake of the Boston bombing, Harper reminds us that the risk of security drift are always topical. In a submission to the Special Senate Committee on the Anti-Terrorism Act in May 2005, the Ligue des droits et libertés described the legislation as "misleading, unnecessary and dangerous." It asked at the same time for its withdrawal, "because this law greatly restricts the exercise of fundamental freedoms and because it seriously undermines the conditions of democratic life in this country." Today, lawyer Denis Barrette thinks no less.

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