And the Banned Played On

It is past the point where the ineffectual Gomery Commission publication ban into Adscam can be taken seriously as a deterrent. It now only exists as an apparent abuse of power by an already corrupt government.

In what could easily be called "Captain Ed vs. Canada," a lone American blogger, Ed Morrisey of Captain's Quarters blog (latest update here), has done something quite extraordinary; he's helped turn a little known (in the States) north-of-the-border corruption scandal into a major freedom of speech issue.

For those of you just catching up (and I readily admit to being one of those myself), a massive and apparently widespread kickback scheme may have been in effect at least since the 1990s, where tens of millions of dollars were funneled from members of the ruling Liberal government in Canada to advertising agencies for little or no actual work. At this point, some of the money may have been diverted back to the Liberal party in some form of kickbacks. A nice scam, to be sure.

This scandal has been ongoing for two years, but the defining moments seem to be breaking in the past week. The Gomery Commission was formed over a year ago to formally investigate the scandal, and most of the investigation has been open to the public, but Judge Gomery decided there would be a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses.

This was done under the auspices of protecting the rights of the three witnesses, but the Liberal Party, perhaps fearing what the results of the investigation may show, seem to be trying to force a snap election so they will not have to answer for their actions to the voters.

It was in this environment that Captain's Quarters brought to light the apparent testimony of Jean Brault, president of the ad agency Groupaction, one of the three witnesses that had their testimony covered by the publication ban.

The Liberal Party and the Canadian government, of course, cannot touch an American citizen, but ridiculously still seems to think that they have some control over the information. Gomery is apparently still threatening Canadians who not only publish the banned material, but those who simply utter which American blog (now blogs) are discussing the banned material.

The Gomery assault on Canadian free speech has the potential of becoming every bit as big a story as Adscam.

I just hope the Canadians realize how fruitless this ban is, and what a threat is poses to their freedoms. The Internet was designed to withstand nuclear war. Somehow, I don't think Gomery is much of a threat to it.

He is far more a threat to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.