MPs slam Afghan detainee document 'charade'

Opposition MPs have accused the Conservative government of showing contempt for the authority of Parliament with its tabling of about 2,500 pages of heavily redacted documents related to the Afghan detainee controversy.

In a surprise move Thursday morning, the government presented two boxes containing a single copy of what it said were previously unreleased documents pertaining to the handling of Afghan detainees. Photocopies then needed to be made before they were distributed to the opposition.

MPs from all three opposition partieshave been trying to get the government toabide bya parliamentary order issued in December to releasedetainee-relateddocuments without heavily blacked-out redactions. The government has rebuffed their request, citing national security concerns.

During Thursday's question period, NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair accused the Conservatives of using the documents as a way to "bide time to protect themselves."

"Behind the lie that this is about national security, it's just the same old story," Mulcair told the House.

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh told the House the presentation of thematerial in a single copy, and in English only was "totally incoherent and totally disorderly," while Bloc Qubcois MP Claude Bachand said the Conservatives pretended to co-operate withthe House, butwere still"hiding the truth" with large portions of blacked-out text.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson defended the redactions, saying theyaremade by "non-partisan public servants whose only interest is the protection of national security." He encouraged opposition members to review the material before jumping to any conclusions about their content.

"This is not like the budget," Nicholson quipped, in reference to the three opposition leaders' quick condemnation of the Tories' fiscal plan earlier this month.

The opposition wants to see whether government documents contain information dealing with the risk of torture in Afghan jails for suspected Taliban fighters handed over by Canadian troops.

Aspecial Commons committee on the Afghanistan mission has been investigating the issue for months and has heard that the government had clear warnings about torture, but continued to transfer detainees into Afghan custody.

LastNovember, the committee heard bombshell testimony from former top diplomat Richard Colvin, who alleged that all prisoners handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan authorities were likely subsequently abused and that government officials were well aware of the problem. Government and military officialshave vehemently deniedColvin's allegations.

Opposition parties have accused the prime minister of using the recent two-month prorogation ofParliament tohinder the committee's work and avoid potentially embarrassing questions on the Afghan detainee affair.

Speaker's ruling awaited

Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale called the government's presentation a "charade" and said it failed to meet any of the transparency or information requirements set out in a Dec. 10 motion passed by the House orderingthe governmentto hand over specific documents to the Afghanistan committee in unredacted form.

"What have they been doing with the documents for the past 3 months?" Goodalesaidinthe House. "What we've had here is a show."

But Tom Lukiwski, parliamentary secretary to government House leader Jay Hill, repeated the government's position that it is legallybound by security concerns, but is working with Parliament to provide the requested material as quickly as it can.

"We've consistently stated that all legally available documents will continue to be tabled," he told the House.

Any potential resolution, or escalation, of the documents showdown now rests on the shoulders ofHouse Speaker Peter Milliken, who has yet to rule on the opposition parties' appeals for him to findthe government violated parliamentary privilegeby refusing to abide bythe Dec. 10House order.

Milliken has said he will consider the opposition motions after he hears from the responsible ministers, who have yet to reply to theissue of privilege.

On Thursday,the justice minister's officewould only say the government will be responding on the issue "in due course."

Earlier this month, Nicholson announced that the government has enlisted retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to review the documents relating to the Afghan detainee affair and determine whether some could be made public.