To the Editor:
This morning on CBC I heard a brief news item saying that Canada has now given the OK for CSIS, Canada’s spy organization, to accept information gained through torture.
That’s all I heard so I looked on the net and found an article by the Canadian Press which was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The article stated that our Harper government has turned an about face regarding information garnered from torture. After allegations of torture being used on prisoners handed over by our military to countries that use this horrible method of gaining information, and other prominent cases in the news, our government proclaimed that we would not accept information from people who were tortured.
Now, I understand that very quietly and not widely reported, our Minister of Public Safety, Vic Teows, gave CSIS the green light on that information and told them that the Harper government now expects the spy service to “make protection of life and property its overriding priority.” Who decides whose life and what property? Property? This is abhorrent to say the least.
Could this reporting of government policies be the reason why several Conservative MPs have presented petitions seeking the withdrawal of funding for the CBC? In most cases their reason was because it gives the CBC an advantage over private sector competitors. There were seven MPs who put these petitions forward. Sincerely, Donna Stocker, Cawston