Top court asked to settle Douglas dossier battle
The Supreme Court of Canada is being asked to settle a seven-year battle to lift the shroud of secrecy over a decadesold intelligence dossier on socialist trailblazer Tommy Douglas.
Jim Bronskill, a reporter with The Canadian Press, is seeking leave to appeal the case to the country’s highest court.
At stake is more than simply gaining access to the intelligence file compiled on the late Douglas, according to Bronskill’s lawyer.
In essence, the top court is being asked to be the final arbiter on whether national security should trump the public’s right to see historical documents.
“It is about the balance between history and security and when national security information can and should be withheld,” Paul Champ said.
“Our simple position is that information that’s gathered for intelligence or national security should not be hidden away from Canadians for all time. At some point, that information can and should become available to historians and journalists and the Canadian public so that we can better understand our history.”
In 2005, Bronskill applied under the Access to Information Act to see the file compiled by the now-defunct RCMP Security Service on Douglas, a former Saskatchewan premier.
Library and Archives Canada, which is now in possession of the file, eventually released just over 400, heavily censored pages from the 1,142-page file. Bronskill launched a court challenge after the federal information commissioner agreed with the government that most of the file should remain under wraps.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which replaced the Mounties’ security service and advised Library and Archives on release of the Douglas file, has argued strenuously against full disclosure. Although some information in the file dates back almost 80 years, the agency maintains uncensored release of the dossier would reveal secrets of the spy trade, which could jeopardize the lives of confidential informants and compromise the agency’s ability to conduct secret surveillance.