Employee Arrested for Leaking Tories' Climate Plan
Just wanted to point out how this article scares the shit out of me. Apparently, a draft copy of the government's Eco-Action plan has been leaked. An employee was arrested for breach of workplace security over the incident. The employee works for Environment Canada.
While it's always difficult to balance out freedom of information and issues of national security, I have to wonder what the hell is going on here. Is the Conservative government's plan for climate change an issue of national security, especially if the proposed legislation is going public eventually? Shouldn't at least some facets of government be transparent to the public? Why do things have to be hush-hush top secret until they get over-dramatically unveiled for all to see -- at which point the government attempts to push the legislation through with very little debate or actual consultation. I believe this is what happened the last time they tried this. Don't they ever learn? If climate change plans are top secret, is it any wonder we treat all their business with equal skepticism? Could I include any more rhetorical questions in this paragraph?
While it's always difficult to balance out freedom of information and issues of national security, I have to wonder what the hell is going on here. Is the Conservative government's plan for climate change an issue of national security, especially if the proposed legislation is going public eventually? Shouldn't at least some facets of government be transparent to the public? Why do things have to be hush-hush top secret until they get over-dramatically unveiled for all to see -- at which point the government attempts to push the legislation through with very little debate or actual consultation. I believe this is what happened the last time they tried this. Don't they ever learn? If climate change plans are top secret, is it any wonder we treat all their business with equal skepticism? Could I include any more rhetorical questions in this paragraph?
posted by Kris at 3:20 PM
4 Comments:
heh, just like my thesis;)
but seriously, that is a bad sign. and they wonder why every second person in north american has anxiety?
k.
For some reason the talk of all these question marks reminds me of a Leonard Cohen quotation: 'there are cracks in everything; that's how the light shines through.'
And the saga continues:
Government trying to ‘bully’ public servants, accused leaker says. CBC News May 10, 2007
A federal bureaucrat who was arrested amid accusations that he leaked a draft of the Tories' climate change plan says the threat of prosecution is "vengeful" and part of the government's bid to intimidate public servants. Jeff Monaghan, an employee at Environment Canada, was arrested and led away in handcuffs from his office early Wednesday as co-workers looked on. At a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Monaghan called it a "politically engineered raid of my workplace."
"The spectacle of my arrest, the subsequent RCMP press release and the prepared statements from Environment Canada, including [Environment Minister John] Baird, have been crafted to bully public servants," he said. Monaghan, 27, also called the proposed charges "vengeful" and an "extension of a government-wide communication strategy pinned on secrecy intimidation and centralization."
The RCMP said they arrested Monaghan for allegations of breach of trust under the Criminal Code. He is accused of leaking details from a draft version of the the government's regulatory framework for climate change. No charges have been laid and the investigation is ongoing, police said. An employee who violates the terms of their workplace security clearance, including the release of secret documents, may be subjected to legal consequences, including criminal charges," RCMP Supt. Stan Burke — the officer in charge of financial integrity — said in a news release Wednesday.
Police said they received a complaint on April 17 that a secret draft copy of the climate change section of the government's Eco-Action Plan had been leaked. Baird said the arrest was a signal to other government employees that leaks of information wouldn't be tolerated. But Monaghan, whose job was to monitor news reports about the government, said Thursday that the proposed charges "without precedent" in the extent to which they were disproportionate to the alleged offence.
Monaghan accused the government of using phrases like "responsible process" and "obedience for the law" as justification for what he called a "witchhunt against the lowest-ranking temp employee in the department and possibly the entire government." He said it was the government — in particular, the Environment Department — that was undermining due process and legal commitments by breaking the country's obligations under the international Kyoto treaty.
Under the government's newest plan, Canada would reduce its current greenhouse-gas emissions by 150 million tonnes by 2020 and most industries would be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent of 2006 levels. The new plan means Canada will be at least a decade behind meeting the obligations it agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol.
wait, that last sentence, that's nothing new is it? btw, who was the 'secret magic spell to save the earth' leaked to? what did they do with it? are we all fucked no matter what happens?
excuse me, i'm going back to cooking chocolate pudding and dreaming about levantine archaeology.
k.
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