http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060527.wxfunerals27/BNStory/National/homeVICTORIA and OTTAWA — Families of soldiers killed overseas will decide whether the country can watch their loved ones return home, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday, reversing his government's policy hours after a grieving father said his daughter died to defend freedoms not restrict them.
Mr. Harper said he was troubled to learn that Tim Goddard, the father of Captain Nichola Goddard, said during a eulogy at her funeral that he disagreed with the government's decision to keep reporters away from the airfield when bodies arrive back in Canada.
... Mr. Harper's climb-down followed weeks of criticism, including from some families of fallen soldiers. Faced with a growing chorus of dissent from the very people he was claiming to be protecting, Mr. Harper apparently decided he was fighting a losing battle.
... “I'm actually struck by Mr. Harper's ability to manufacture facts,” Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said yesterday, shortly before the media ban was overturned. “He manufactured the consultation of the families in this case.”