Harper should come clean on Senate scandal: Clark
Posted November 24, 2013 8:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A former Prime Minister says the Senate scandal dogging the Harper Conservatives is more evidence of a government that insists on operating in secret.
In a new book, Joe Clark calls for a more open approach and a return to the ideals Canada once stood for.
“How We Lead: Canada in a Century of Change” makes the case that Ottawa should be more engaged with the wider world.
Clark feels the federal government has become more secretive since Stephen Harper and the Conservatives took power and he feels this latest crisis is the ultimate example of that.
“Early on, [Harper] should have made available all the information he knows. You can’t hide information in the modern age,” Clark warns.
“He’s in a terrible position where the best he can do is respond to facts that are coming from other media. So he should get information out [and] let the chips fall where they may.”
Clark points to this scandal and the way the government announced Canada’s new trade deal with the European Union as examples of a government that doesn’t run openly.
“It does indicate the unwillingness of to do this with full public participation, [it] does indicate an inclination on the part of this government to be more private than it has to be in a world that is public.”
Clark feels Ottawa was once an agent of change and can be again.
The retired statesman will be speaking Monday night at Capilano University in North Vancouver.
