Some of his comments:
"I beleive that these commissions that we have are one aspect of the democracy that we have in this country and I have seen a number of steps taken that I think are goign to erode democracy. If there's an inheritance that I want to leave to my children its the democracy that we've had in this country..."He thinks that the commission is just being put to sleep so that it can not embarrass the government. He's very clear in that its a conflict of interest to have the minister appoint the commissioner. He doesn't think that the interim commissioner has the proper background to do the job.
"I haven't got the slightest idea what is on the mind of Stephen Harper... what I do see causes me concern and if it isn't arrested I think we've got problems."
"I am campaigning for is these commissions should be there they should be properly empowered they should have proper financial base and they should have proper effective leadership. Those attributes aren't there... If people lose confidence in the RCMP I think that hurts them as a police force I think it hurts the service that is delivered to Canadians."
"Parties come and go. Leaders come and go. Democracy and the system we have, that's what's important. That's our legacy... If we don't protect those cornerstones, we're in trouble... I think there's potential here if we don't stand up to protect our democracy, we're going to lose it."
(It's been widely reported that the new commissioner, Ian McPhail, is a purely politicized appointment. His legal knowledge is in estate law, and his qualifications seem to stem from many years of service to various Conservative parties.)
Commissioners would have more independence if they were beholden to Parliament not the government of the day.
I'm not the only one seeing a pattern emerge of what reforms we need, am I?
Parliamentary supremacy.
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