Easy target

So much for any one hidden agenda. It turns out that the Harper cabinet now has many of them - and it's going to court to keep them that way:

The Conservative government is moving to ban the release of prime ministerial agendas, a surprising change of heart after fighting the Liberals for the documents for years.

Government lawyers told Information Commissioner John Reid's office Friday that they intended to proceed with a Federal Court case over the prime minister's agendas, as well as those of other cabinet ministers...

Other requests for agendas of the transport and defence ministers, as well as RCMP records of the prime minister's agendas, have also landed in Federal Court.

And the Cons can't even claim that their about-face is based on difference people being involved, as the original case involved a current ministerial aide:

The case was born in 1999, when then Reform Party researcher Laurie Throness made six requests for then-prime minister Jean Chretien's agendas, detailing his daily appointments.

The Privy Council Office refused, Throness filed a complaint with the information commissioner, and the issue landed in Federal Court.

Now Throness is chief of staff to Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl, and in the strange position of having his name in court affidavits taken on behalf of the information commissioner.

Once again, any claim Harper ever had to a belief in accountability has been left by the wayside in favour of covering up his (and his cabinet's) activities. But if there's any bright side, it's that now that the Cons are going to court trying to keep their agendas hidden, they'll have absolutely no reason to complain when Canadians speculate as to what Harper wants to cook up outside the public eye.