Afghan detainees! Obstruction Is Supreme

In what looks to be the closing chapter on the Afghan detainee file, the final judgement suggests that obstruction works, stonewalling is ultimately rewarded and former notions of Parliamentary supremacy were temporary at best. I don’t want to say "told you so", but the Harper Conservatives have acted as predicted, delayed as much as possible, and subsequently stopped any investigation in it’s tracks as soon as the former Parliament mandate ran out.

It was one year ago that his "solution" was crafted, after endless prior delays and aversions. People will note, a wasted summer of further delay, followed by little information through the fall and winter, not a single document seen prior to the election. And, with this vote, the mandate as agreed upon rendered mute, the new Parliament would have to recommit to continue the work, an almost impossible tenet, given the NDP were never on board in the first place. In other words, the government delayed inspection on multiple fronts (as detailed in this excellent column, then when finally cornered by the Speaker, engaged in running out the clock, knowing that Parliament wasn’t supreme, just this edition, all bets off after absolution.

Here we sit, 10% of the documents available, the rest seemingly forever lost to transparency, a combination of security issues, cabinet confidence and incomplete process. The panel itself has weighed in, stating the Conservatives have stopped the process mid stream, they were still reviewing, their job incomplete. Think about that fact for a second, this government has short circuited an on going process, agreed upon and ultimately dictated by the Speaker, with little practical recourse available. The government knows the public is tired of the issue, Baird runs to the cameras, declares the issue settled and that’s pretty much that. A couple of outraged columns and empty rhetoric doesn’t change the reality, the government had the mechanism available to end the process, majority or not when you extrapolate, and they have.

Turns out obstruction was really supreme and sadly in the end, hardly anyone really noticed or cared to for that matter.