Not yet forgotten

With the Cons doing everything in their power to change the subject from their choice to gut the census, it's worth a reminder that their limited document dump so far leaves entirely unanswered the questions of who raised the idea and why. Which brings us to Haroon Siddiqui:

(I)n axing the compulsory long form for next year’s census, Tony Clement, minister in charge of Statistics Canada, repeatedly claimed that that was one of the options the agency gave him.

Yet we do not see that in the 200 or so memos and emails released last week in response to a request by a House of Commons committee. Several documents had been blacked out. Others may be missing.

Also, last week Clement denied an assertion made in this column that he had opposed the decision but had been overruled by Stephen Harper and that he was privately telling friends that “that’s what the boss wanted.”

His office demanded a retraction. I refused and suggested that the minister take me to task in a letter to the editor, which he did: “I did not say the words Mr. Siddiqui attributes to me. I support the decision and participated in this decision from the get-go.”

Regardless of the exact words used, his actual position can easily be ascertained if he were to release the papers outlining his recommendation to the Prime Minister.

Needed, therefore, are internal documents showing the advice Clement got from StatsCan and the advice he gave the PMO.