Behind closed doors

The Globe and Mail reports on the latest from the Cons' Information Suppression Squad. And it looks like the squad is placing just as much emphasis on covering up its own tracks as on silencing any inconvenient truths about Afghanistan:

Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence implemented a new process last spring for judging what Canadians could and couldn't know about the Afghan mission – a process that included the creation of a military “investigation support team” that oversaw the release of documents.

At first, the team was supposed to handle just information relating to a number of Military Police Complaints Commission investigations into the detainee-handling process. However, it soon started dealing with virtually all Afghan-related access to information requests from the public...

The extent to which top Canadian Forces brass looked to restrict public information about operations in Afghanistan is made clear in a June 20 e-mail to National Defence's director of Access to Information, Julie Jansen, sent by Brigadier-General Peter Atkinson.

“Any ATI request for information related to DETAINEES, or Battle Damage Assessments (any report, SOP, SIR, sitrep related to IEDs, Vehicle Damage, casualties, protection, armour enhancements) is to be severed in its entirety less the address group at the top of the correspondence,” Brig.-Gen. Atkinson wrote...

In early June of last year, Ms. Jansen voiced her concerns to Brigadier-General A.J. Howard about fully severing two items that were the subject of an information request. “We can't just apply a blanket exemption based on speculations,” she wrote.

Brig.-Gen. Howard replied: “I will not address this any further by e-mail… If you would like to drop by my office so I can explain all of this to your satisfaction I would be happy for you to do so.

“My advice – tread carefully on both of these matters – there are very serious diplomatic and allied issues at stake here.”

It is unclear what the two items are – in the documents obtained by The Globe, they are fully severed.

Now, the information contained in the June 20 e-mail is damning enough: one of the most basic rules of access to information is that a government department is required to review documents to determine what information can be validly released, rather than simply setting blanket policies in order to suppress large amounts of information.

But even more remarkable is the refusal of one of the Cons' special information ops to even put his own reasoning into writing - a decision which obviously has nothing to do with the safety of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and everything to do with an attempt to prevent the Cons from having to answer for their actions in Canada.

Fortunately, it at least sounds like Jansen is properly concerned about doing her job. Which not only offers hope that at least somebody within the department is pushing back against the secrecy, but should also present some prospect of clearing away the smokescreen just when it'll be best for the Cons' suppression to be placed in plain sight.

Impolitical has more.