The Harper government stifles or removes government watchdogs who get in its way.
Forthright government watchdogs have a way of disappearing in Ottawa.
They are quietly replaced. Their mandates are terminated or not renewed. They are suddenly found to be unqualified.
Howard Sapers, the outspoken correctional investigator of Canada, is the latest to join the involuntary exodus. He was a strong advocate for mistreated inmates. He highlighted the disproportionate number of aboriginal prisoners in the system. He asked why so many people with mental disorders were behind bars and why so many prisoners were released without adequate supervision. He warned that federal prisons were overcrowded and underfunded. “An ombudsman’s role is to comment on maladministration,” he said.
Sapers will be relieved of his responsibilities as soon as the government can find a replacement. Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney provided no explanation, other than noting the fact he had served for more than a decade. Canada’s last corrections investigator, Ron Stewart, served for 26 years.
Seven government watchdogs and three senior bureaucrats have been stifled or impugned since the Conservatives took office.
The first to go, in 2008, was Linda Keen, who headed the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She ordered AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.) to shut down its Chalk River Reactor till its emergency power system over concerns about its emergency power system. The government kept it open and fired her.
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