- Roy Romanow, Turn on your Light, Let It shine, shine, shine, shine, shine

Posted: 8/11/2010 11:34:59 AM, the Globe and Mail
Web-exclusive commentary, Information must be Canada’s bedrock, Roy Romanow Canadian Press, Globe and Mail Update, Aug. 11, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/information-must-be-canadas-bedrock/article1668377/

"Information must be the bedrock on which we build public policy in areas that matter to Canadians. Trying to get a snapshot of our country with inaccurate and unreliable data is like using a camera without enough pixels. The blurrier the picture gets, the harder it becomes to recognize the face of our nation.

Roy Romanow is chair of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing’s advisory board and a former premier of Saskatchewan. "

Mr. Romanow, when you're right, you're right (morally that is).

Senators standing up and shining their, what can be quite bright, light on the dark corners of the Harper government without concern for their jobs is certainly a function that our Senators are in a unique position to fulfill - 'sober second thought' - now that's a catchy phrase.

This applies more generally: 'Information is the bedrock of democracy - of government by the people for the people'.

Harper and the Conservative government is neither by the people nor for the people.

Harper and the Con's have a core of die-hard, right wing extremists, epi-centred in Alberta, of 33% that are the reason Harper is running this great nation of ours.

With their support Harper can introduce pretty much anything he wants that furthers his Con agenda and benefits his core support, to the detriment of Canada and Canadians as a whole. He will not lose the die-hards and perhaps even attract a few others hear and there - who knows even get a majority.

As long as the Harper policies do not consolidate the opposition then Harper can take the position 'Canadians be d[redacted]'.

Perhaps StatsCan can analyze Harper's Long Form to confirming that he has spent a greater % of his public career bent on tearing Canada asunder than Ignatieff has spent his outside Canada. - that would be violating Harper's privacy, wouldn't it?, or is this something we ought to know of our PM.

Harper, and the Con's have a policy of hiding, refusing to release, obstructing, obscuring, distorting, and MEP'ing information in order to surreptitiously implement their right wing extremist ideology. Apparently Harper is extending personal privacy rights to running the very public job of running this country.

Liberal and comprehensive rights to access information, available to all, unobstructed and vigilantly exercised, is a cornerstone of modern, open and free, democracy, protecting all from a closed, secretive government intent on using the powers entrusted to them for their self interest and interests contrary to the will of the people. This assumes there is information to access, if you undermine the information then there is no fear in giving people access to it.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html