Murray Dobbin, rabble.ca: Harper’s hitlist: Watchdogs muzzled and kept on chains

rabble.ca columnist Murray Dobbin details the harm Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing to the political and social fabric of Canada in a new essay commissioned by The Council of Canadians. This article is an excerpt taken from the essay, the fourth in a 10-part series on Harper's assault on democracy.

The federal government is more than just Parliament. It also consists of many arms-length and independent agencies which are in fact designed to be beyond the political control of the government. They were established, in large measure, to ensure that the areas they oversee are not politicized by the government of the day and that democratic accountability is ensured. Most report directly to Parliament, not the Prime Minister's Office, and so are normally beyond the PMO's control. They are generally given wide leeway to get their work done and their reports are not vetted or edited by the government.

But a determined occupant of the Prime Minister's Office can undermine, weaken and attack that independence in various ways. The government can refuse to co-operate, the PMO has the power to appoint the heads of these bodies or the boards, and it has the power to cut the budgets of such agencies -- all without any reference to the House of Commons, even in a minority situation. Stephen Harper has used all these methods to weaken agencies whose work raises questions about his government's policies or actions.

Some of the principal examples:

The Parliamentary Budget Office

Kevin Page, a veteran public servant, heads the PBO, and in June 2009, following a long and protracted public battle with the government, told The Toronto Star that the Conservative government was doing its best to shut him down. "This is a litmus test for democracy," said Page, referring to the government's decision to slash his budget from $2.8 million to $1.8 million. He said that in his battle over his budget he was reminded of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's legendary comment: "Democracies die in darkness."

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http://rabble.ca/news/2010/03/harper%E2%80%99s-hitlist-watchdogs-muzzled-and-kept-chains