secrecy

Thursday June 3, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 3, 2021

The Catholic Church must atone for its role in residential schools

According to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, the remains of 215 children have been found in the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. It’s grotesque, heartbreaking but — if we’re honest — not completely surprising. As we peel away the layers of lies and myths surrounding the treatment of Indigenous people in this country, few horrors seem impossible.

June 1, 2021

Residential schools and the damage they caused still form an open wound, and while apologies don’t fully heal, they do at least help begin some sort of closure. Which is why the reluctance of the Roman Catholic Church to show official and public contrition is so painful. This B.C. school was run by that church from 1890 to 1969, when the federal government took charge. It was closed nine years later.

The Catholic Church wasn’t alone in the residential school affair, but it is it alone in refusing to fully acknowledge its crimes. In 1986 the United Church stated, “We imposed our civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God’s creation healed.”

Seven years later, Archbishop Michael Peers, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, issued a profoundly moving document: “I accept and I confess before God and you, our failures in the residential schools. We failed you. We failed ourselves. We failed God … I am sorry, more than I can say, that we tried to remake you in our image, taking from you your language and the signs of your identity.”

Toilet paper apologies

Such apologies were requested in the 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Pope Francis personally to make such a statement when the two leaders met. Indeed, the House of Commons voted by a margin of 269-10 to formally invite the Pope to reconsider his reluctance.

Francis has said that he takes the issue “seriously,” but that “after carefully considering the request and extensive dialogue with the bishops of Canada, he felt that he could not personally respond.” In 1991, the Canadian Bishops said, “We are sorry and deeply regret the pain, suffering and alienation that so many experienced” at the residential schools, and two years later added that “various types of abuse experienced at some residential schools have moved us to a profound examination of conscience as a Church.” But that’s it, and it’s just not enough.

One of the central obstacles is that a church already mired in legal and financial troubles regarding abuse cases is frightened of the repercussions that might follow after a formal apology regarding residential schools. It’s already been asked to honour its financial obligations under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, and to raise $25 million for Indigenous healing, as demanded in the residential schools settlement of 2007. That simply hasn’t happened.

October 23, 2020

While Pope Francis is progressive on many issues, he’s been worryingly opposed to acknowledging the church’s failings. In 2017, for example, he refused to apologize for the church’s history of sexual and physical abuse of children in Chile, and only changed his position after enormous public pressure.

Beyond the financial and legal consequences, there is also the issue of the church’s reputation. While many Catholics, and many leaders within the church, are ashamed at the very idea of the residential school system, conservative elements within the church see it more as a noble effort that was badly handled than an ideal that was flawed in itself. They are tired of what they see as apologizing for well-intended failure as opposed to immorality, and still look to their missionary work as important and ethical. That is where they are so out-of-step with other churches, and public opinion.

It may well take a new Papacy to change all this, and a Pope with the courage to ignore both the more traditional elements in his church, and his financial advisers who are terrified of prolonged compensation battles. That’s tragic not just for the victims of the residential schools, but for the message of Christianity as well. (Michael Coren, iPolitics)

Saturday May 1, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 1, 2021

‘My recommendations will be implemented’: Louise Arbour prepares to review misconduct in Canada’s military

When faced with the idea of conducting an external review on sexual misconduct in the military — six years after a similar review was completed — retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour said her initial impression was: “Seriously? It’s been done.” 

October 18, 2016

Upon reflection, Arbour said she saw an environment in which she could make a lasting contribution, having been given a broader mandate from the federal government than the one handed to retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps when she conducted a similar review. 

“I have been given assurances that my recommendations will be implemented,” a point Arbour returned to several times in an interview with the Star on Friday, while acknowledging that “you might think it’s a bit naïve” considering the military’s response so far to the Deschamps review. 

“Six years after the Deschamps report, I think there’s better hope this time that something will come of this…If I was profoundly skeptical and cynical, I wouldn’t be doing this. I really have to believe that there is a window of opportunity.”

Arbour’s external review, announced Thursday by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, was immediately blasted by critics as a deflection tactic by a government and military that have failed to fully implement Deschamps’s recommendations. 

The Conservatives said it was meant to take attention away from ongoing questions about the government’s handling of an allegation against ex-chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance in 2018.

June 13, 2017

Deschamps — who concluded in 2015 that sexual misconduct is “endemic” in the military — told the Star she welcomed Arbour’s appointment, noting her broader mandate and that her review “would not be a mere repetition of what I did.” 

A former justice on the country’s top court, UN high commissioner for human rights, and chief prosecutor at the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Arbour brings a deep knowledge of human rights issues to her new task.

“Maybe the most important part of (Deschamps’s) work was the diagnosis,” Arbour said. “It was really earth shattering, the assessment of the prevalence of this predatory, sexualized culture.” 

Arbour said she understands the frustration of survivors of military sexual violence, both those who have come forward, as well as those who never have due to lack of trust in the system.

“I understand their frustration and possibly their skepticism, about just another review by another justice. I get that,” she said. “I really want to say: Just bear with me. I think moving forward, this might be the right time for the right thing to get done.” 

Unlike Deschamps’s mandate, Arbour has been instructed to come up with recommendations on what external oversight of the armed forces should look like. She will also be studying the military justice system’s “systemic performance” in dealing with sexual misconduct allegations, as well as recruitment and promotion to senior leadership. (Toronto Star) 

 

Wednesday August 15, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday August 15, 2012

Councillors frustrated by stadium secrecy

The secrecy surrounding Hamilton’s new Pan Am stadium has led to one councillor threatening to step down from the Games subcommittee.

Bernie Morelli, whose ward will house the new venue on the site of the current Ivor Wynne Stadium, says he’s so frustrated by the process that he’s thinking of quitting the Pan Am stadium subcommittee. Councillor Brad Clark also expressed his frustration at Infrastructure Ontario, the province’s development agency.

“We’ve relinquished all of our responsibility to Infrastructure Ontario,” Clark said.

The comments came about after councillors dealt with a report about a cost-sharing agreement for the new Pan Am stadium at Monday’s general issues committee meeting.

City staff were asking for council’s approval to enter into discussions with Infrastructure Ontario to determine the “roles, relationships, joint and separate responsibilities, authorizations and obligations” for the Pam Am stadium.

According to the report, the capital cost for the stadium is $145.6 million. The operating costs for 2012 are $340,300. However, the staff report offered few details about how the costs and operating responsibilities of the stadium will be shared.

When councillors asked staff for more information, Gerry Davis, the city’s general manager of public works, said they would have to check with Infrastructure Ontario to see if they had permission to share those details publicly. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday April 12, 2012

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday April 12, 2012

Mac should set the standard on openness

Universities play an important role in the fabric of democratic societies.

They are guardians of academic freedom, and carry the responsibility of instilling into their students important ideas and enduring values of our society.

A couple of those ideas are the openness and accountability of public institutions in a democracy and the right of the public to know how its money is being spent.

In that context, McMaster University’s determined struggle to keep secret the details of the financial affairs of former president Peter George is particularly disappointing. The approach to accountability, transparency and disclosure displayed over a course of years leaves the university with a black eye of its own making.

This isn’t just about McMaster. In an era of increasing public demand for open data, the lack of openness displayed is far too common among leading public institutions spending public money and acting on our behalf. We have seen it with the province’s Ornge scandal, with the city’s debate about open police budgets, with executive salaries at Ontario Hydro, and more.

As detailed in Wednesday’s Spectator, this newspaper engaged in a six-year struggle with the university over the release of documents. Every step of the way, the university has fought the release, sought to prevent the former president’s contract and his expenses from being disclosed.

Universities were made subject to freedom of information laws in June of 2006. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday November 20, 2001

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 20, 2001

Secrecy at City Hall becoming the norm

Mayor Bob Wade just doesn’t get it. He still believes, apparently, that council members are entitled to meet in secret any time they don’t want the public, or the media, listening in or looking over their shoulders.

Councillor Marvin Caplan is beyond not getting it, but we’ll return to that in a moment. Wade has to be the focus of any discussion of council openness or the lack thereof.

Glorious architecture gallery

A recent series of five closed meetings continues a trend the mayor began even before he took office. Last November, he called a closed-door session of councillors — elected but not yet sworn in — to discuss, among other things, their own salaries. The meeting, the first time they sat down together, was in a Hamilton Place boardroom. No problem, the mayor said. They weren’t yet members of council (all but one were still sitting members of existing councils) and he wanted to give them a chance to “vent” away from staff and media.

A greater concern than any one of these questionable meetings of council members is that secret meetings are becoming business as usual at City Hall. There is a disturbing philosophy emerging: The mayor and some councillors clearly believe the public and the media get in the way of their work.

Too bad. Public accountability comes with being on the public teat.

Councillor Caplan’s take on the five closed meetings? “I think there should be more stuff in camera, not less.”

What is he thinking? What is wrong with an elected official who wants more secrecy in place of openness and transparency? Councillor Sam Merulla says the meetings should be public — but has raised no objection. So much for principle. (Hamilton Spectator)