When Parliament demands secret documents from the war in Afghanistan and the government says no, the one sure way out of a constitutional stalemate is to parachute in a retired Supreme Court justice. The appointment of Frank Iacobucci announced yesterday to review documents from the Afghan detainees dispute was a stroke of brilliance, in several respects. But let's hope Mr. Iacobucci is a fast reader, and can thereby avoid being used by government as a mere instrument of delay.
No doubt the government that prorogued Parliament for two months wishes Mr. Iacobucci a long slog, to be completed some time after the next election, still to be announced. It has not publicly stated the time frame, or terms of reference, for his review of documents related to the alleged torture of Afghan detainees handed over by Canadian soldiers. (The issue is whether national-security and international-relations concerns should keep the documents from being released to a special House of Commons committee.)
Mr. Iacobucci has some excellent attributes for this job. As a former Deputy Attorney General in Ottawa, he's no purist; he knows the imperatives of government. As a former Supreme Court judge, he brings legal heft. And having recently headed an inquiry into the Canadian role in the Syrian torture of three Arab-Canadians, he is trusted by government on national-security issues. He has political credibility, too, since he pressed the government successfully over what he saw as its excessive secrecy in one area connected to that inquiry.
The government has little credibility on Afghan detainees. It would not, for instance, release documents requested by Peter Tinsley, who was the chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission and whose appointment was not renewed. It attacked the credibility of Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat who told the House committee on Afghanistan that the government was willfully blind to what was happening to the detainees. Its senior ministers have repeatedly made false statements on the detainees issue. By appointing Mr. Iacobucci, the government cannot be said to be trying to skew the result. Justice will be seen to be done.
It may seem eons ago, but before the Olympics and prorogation Parliament was deeply engaged in holding the government to account over the issue of the Afghan detainees. Beyond the direct import of the detainees issue - Canada's attitude to torture in war - is the question of whether this government tells the truth to Canadians about aspects of the war they are paying for, and dying in.
This is not a trifling matter. The documents will help reveal the truth. If Mr. Iacobucci reads quickly enough, the House committee may yet get to the bottom of it.