Gomery Publication Ban
April 5, 2005 · By Tom Cerber
The publication ban on the Gomery Commission is a tad ridiculous though I suppose it makes a degree of sense as Gomery’s desperate attempt to ensure Brault gets a fair jury when he has his trial.
Even so, it’s patently ridiculous that members of the political parties should have access to the transcripts.
I wonder how much of this scenario is caused by what political scientist David E. Smith means when he refers to the crown as the first principle of Canadian government. In his rich and insightful book, he argues that despite convincing ourselves that we are a democracy, we in fact continue to conduct ourselves as a monarchy, where authority emanates from the top down.
For instance, this means that the Cabinet controls agendas, that outsiders to politics can only participate when invited in, that parties are the principal players in politics (e.g., 3rd party financing laws), and, it seems, parties are privy to information that Canadian voters are not.
Such seems to be the ways of the Crown in Canada (and responsible government – where parties hold government responsible, not voters).
Anyone have the link to the banned report?
[...] submit that this is based on a false view of the nature of the Canadian political system. As noted previously, Canada’s first principle is the crown from which [...]