A failing grade over secrecy
he fact that a strong majority of Canadians believe their federal government is systematically conducting large portions of the people’s business in secret should be cause for great concern, not just for Prime Minister Stephen Harper but also for those who worry about a creeping cynicism over the political process.
A new national poll this week illustrates just how far Harper’s Conservative government has fallen from its promise of transparency and accountability, when two-thirds of Canadians believe the government is too secretive and has failed to govern with high ethical standards. The Ipsos-Reid survey also found that after seven years in office, half of the country still believes that Harper has a “hidden agenda.”
It comes as no surprise that so many people are coming to this conclusion. We’ve heard the charges of muzzling and message control often enough, and from credible respected voices, not just political opponents. It does begin to wear at public confidence.
Last week federal information commissioner Suzanne Legault agreed to launch a wide-ranging investigation into complaints that the Harper government is systematically stifling scientists in its employ. The investigation comes at the behest of the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre and the nonpartisan Democracy Watch. A week earlier, Canada’s first parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page departed his post with a stark warning for Canadians: “Our institutions of accountability are in trouble. Parliament does not get the information and analysis it needs to hold the executive (the prime minister and cabinet) to account.”
Page’s appointment in 2008 was a promise kept by the Conservatives after they campaigned on doing government differently in the 2006 election, pledging greater accountability and transparency on how Ottawa spends our money. Those were laudable goals then, and they remain so today, however unfulfilled. Perception is everything in politics and the optics are not good for the prime minister after all the prorogations of Parliament, the omnibus bills, the tightening of access to information and the cuts to federal research agencies.
According to this week’s poll, 63 per cent of respondents disagreed with the statement: “the Harper Conservatives are living up to the promise they made when first elected in 2006 to provide an ethical, open and transparent government.”
Transparency in government improves efficiency, prevents corruption and contributes to sound policy planning. Secrecy, on the other hand, can provide a cover for all sorts of mismanagement. It might also serve as the breaking point for voters.
That’s something for the ruling Conservatives to consider as they approach the midpoint of their majority mandate, even more so with a new pulse detected in the federal Liberal party.
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