From Facebook page and updated: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=13108&post=77757&ui...

Topic: The Harper Attack on Canadian Democracy Documented

MUZZLING CABINET MINISTERS, MPs, JUDGES, ETC

How Harper controls the spin
Zeal to manage message sees journalists shunned, bureaucrats, cabinet ministers routinely muzzled. Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429906

PM slaps muzzle on military brass
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2006/04/15/1535119-sun.html

Hillier, Sr.Officials Muzzled by PMO
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,42247.0.html

Mum’s the word: Harper tells MPs to keep mouths shut
http://www.carleton.ca/ctown/archiv/mar3106/Insite2.htm

Tories tighten muzzle on PS [Public Service] for campaign
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=93e98b5c-593...

Former chief justice of Canada accuses PM of trying to "muzzle" the judiciary
http://www.anticorruption.ca/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4792&...

'Muzzle' Placed On Federal Scientists
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=47bf0fba-b98f...

Tories muzzle environmental scientist
http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=8942

Minister stops book talk by Environment Canada scientist
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/04/13/ambrose-climate.html

Mum's the word till message vetted
No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429903

Harper lawsuit smacks of authoritarian state: prof
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/07/harper-lawsuit.html

Holland shocked by Conservative comments on media
http://www.markholland.ca/news/2006/060331harpermedia.htm

Harper government whips Tories into line with secret handbook
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/columnists/story.html?id=b8122d...

Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told The Hill Times recently that the Harper government has been quietly drafting about 25 government policies that impact on the rights of officers of Parliament, and that it has been happening without their knowledge or input.
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/members/login.php?fail=2&destination...

Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080325.wtoryta...

Feds keep lid on Atomic Energy Canada sale report
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Feds+keep+Atomic+Energy+Canad...

Huge loss expected in any AECL sale, MPs concede
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Huge+loss+expected+AECL+sal...

Is he sitting on it?
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan still has not tabled the 2008 report from the Commissioner of Firearms. Knowing the report will likely be favourable to the existing gun registry, many have questioned whether Van Loan is suppressing the report until after tonight's vote on scrapping the long gun registry.
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2009/11/is-he-sitting-on-...

Canada slips in 'press freedom' rankings
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/712978--canada-slips-in-...

Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/704155

Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090929/taliba...

Has Canada entered a 'Bush-like vortex'?
Richard Colvin's torture allegations suggest civil servants aren't writing down what the government doesn't want recorded
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/has-canada-entered-a-b...

PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07
Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/729157--pm...

Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-attack-credibil...

Attack on senior diplomat signals demise of independent public service: experts
"If we don’t have a public service that speaks truth to power we might as well have everything run out of the Prime Minister’s Office.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Attack+Colvin+signals+demise+in...

Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/diplomats-told-to-keep...

Former ambassadors condemn Ottawa's attack on diplomat
Response to Colvin's detainee testimony discourages honest reports, letter says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/former-ambassadors-con...

Public service in crisis over Colvin
The Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Public+service+crisis+over+Colv...

Afghan detainee watchdog warns of Tory ‘chilling effect'
Departing military commission chief's [BECAUSE HE WAS REFUSED REAPPOINTMENT BY THE TORIES] comments come as Harper government digs in its heels in face of parliamentary order to turn over confidential files
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/afghan-detainee-watchd...

Detainee watchdog post remains unfilled
Military police commission set to meet in March, but Ottawa's delays in appointing new chairman could prompt delay
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/detainee-watchdog-post...

Feds refuse legal funding to whistleblower diplomat
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091027/whistl...

Ottawa's stance on whistleblower's legal costs called 'unethical'
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/716489--ottawa-s-stance-...

Feds tried to order nuclear regulator to bend rules
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071218/reacto...

Ottawa fires nuclear safety commission head [nuclear regulator]
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/2008/01/ottawa_fires_nuclear_safety...

Ousted regulator just doing her job
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/294886

Tories drop RCMP complaints commissioner
Paul Kennedy sparred with government over office's powers, budget
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/731775--tories-drop-rcmp...

Clement slams CMA doctors for supporting drug-injection site
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=732204

Scientific data backs Insite
http://www.straight.com/scientific-data-backs-insite

Budget officer [Kevin Page] questions projected federal surplus
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Budget+officer+questions...

If the object of the exercise was “truth in budgeting”, that’s what Kevin’s office provided. But that realism, whether in regard to rosy but flawed government fiscal forecasts or the true cost of the war in Afghanistan, has been a bit too much truth for this government. Mr. [Kevin] Page’s office has had its budget cut by one million dollars.
http://informedvote.ca/2009/11/07/our-parliamentary-budget-officer-...

Conservatives stop funding for learning organization
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-stop-fun...

Ottawa is cutting off public input into climate-change policy
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Ottawa+cutting+public+input+...

Tory candidate dumped for frank TV comments: Mused riding wouldn't get infrastructure cash because it's Liberal-held
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/702396

Tory candidates avoiding debates [Election Campaign, 2008]
Campaign official says 'there's no policy' forbidding participation in certain all-candidates' meetings
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/510147

Gov't program wants job applicants' views on Tory budget
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091104/intern...

Insults, discourtesy and disrespect mark Harper team's behaviour: Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star
http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00145

Two prorogations to shut down Parliament and Canadian democracy:

Prorogation redux: Harper in contempt of Parliament, Errol Mendes

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/745949

Harper’s G20 democratic fiasco; Canadian democracy undermined

http://ccla.org/2011/03/09/op-ed-the-unfinished-g20-story/ 

Harper government ruled in contempt of Parliament; Election to follow

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-government-in-c...

Harper’s Hypocrisy on coalition as anti-democratic

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/harper-hammers-coalit...

Harper’s stealth agenda to bankrupt the Federal government except for military, prisons and corporate tax cuts:

http://www.yorku.ca/robarts/projects/canada-watch/Harper/pdfs/Mende...



THE CULTURE OF SECRECY
Watchdog blasts Tories for secrecy obsession: Information chief challenges Ottawa to ease 'stranglehold'
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/593921

Watchdog alarmed by Harper's information clampdown
Canada's information watchdog says the public knows less than ever about what its government is doing – a stark contrast to Barack Obama's push for openness in the United States.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/575765

Government secrecy ‘grim,' watchdog says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090226.wPOLinf...

Ottawa nixes bid to expand transparency
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-nixes-bid-to-ex...

Watchdog slams lack of transparency in stimulus spending
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091009/watchd...

Can't say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/11/stimulus-funding-watchdog...

Tory stimulus boast tough to verify
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091203/stimul...

Tories blasted for secrecy on stimulus cash
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/stimulus/article/718466--tories-...

Stimulus spending watchdogs stymied by lack of data
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091004/stimul...

Tories not so open now
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/712110--tories-no...

Ottawa seeks secrecy in Tamil migrant case
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ottawa-seeks-secrecy-i...



CENTRALIZING POWER IN STEPHEN HARPER’S HANDS
Siddiqui: Harper acting like an elected dictator
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/740829?bn=1

Gomery slams Harper for ignoring him
The man who investigated the sponsorship scandal says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have abandoned any commitment he once had to transparent government in favour of a top-down style that centralizes power in his own hands.
http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/agency/article.jsp?content=...

Gomery slams increasing power of PM's office
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/345503

Failure to decentralize PMO power poses danger to democracy: Gomery
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/03/13/gomery-committee.html


CONTEMPT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
Ottawa moves to block detainee-transfer hearings [2008]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article722656.ece

Redactions hamper Afghan detainee probe [2009]
Unreadable documents make meaningful inquiry ‘almost impossible’ and reflect government efforts to keep record a secret
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/redactions-hamper-afgh...

Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament, setting stage for legal battle
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/737634--ot...

Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091211/afghan...

Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/091211/n1211113A.html

Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Tories+refuse+release+uncensored+doc...

Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture [2009]
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/739427