On transparency

The Cons take their regime of secrecy to yet another new low, placing a gag order on media attending a public conference on global corporate responsibility:

A government-sponsored roundtable concerning corporate responsibility of Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries was subject to media restrictions Tuesday, even as industry and watchdog groups urged "transparency and truth."

Reporters could enter sessions open to the general public during which seven-minute presentations were made by interested parties but were "not welcome to report what is seen or heard," a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said as the Montreal roundtable opened.

And in case there was any doubt whether this was based on need or on animosity toward the press:

Pierre Gratton, spokesman for the Mining Association of Canada, said a subcommittee of panel members considered media restrictions.

"What we got from government was that 'public' in their minds did not include media," he said.

Not that it's a surprise for the Cons' idea of "public involvement" to be limited to what they want to report from a session. But given that no harm was apparently done by public access, there's absolutely no reason why a press gag order would serve any purpose other than to keep the actual subject matter of the conference from wider discussion. And indeed, the worst possible outcomes mooted as other possible reasons for the gag (particularly reprisals against speakers) appear to be precisely the ones which would involve people motivated enough to find an individual to attend and report back, rather than relying on media reports.

Which leaves only the combined desire of the Cons and the businesses involved to avoid public knowledge of their actions and policies to the greatest extent possible. And if there's any lesson we should have learned by now, it's that where there's that kind of concerted effort to hide away from the wider public, it usually reflects a need for as much scrutiny as can possibly be applied.