Censored documents show Bernier jeopardized security: Opposition

OTTAWA – Copies of heavily censored classified documents that Maxime Bernier, as foreign minister, left at his ex-girlfriend’s house in 2008 show the security breach was far more serious than the Harper government ever admitted, opposition MPs say.

They say the newly released, blacked-out sections of the report make a mockery of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s assertions at the time that no security risk was posed by Bernier’s relationship with Julie Couillard, who had ties to biker gangs, or his mishandling of secret documents.

"The government can’t have it both ways," said Bob Rae, the Liberals’ foreign affairs critic. "You can’t say on the one hand there was nothing sensitive and important in these documents, and then say, ‘But you can’t see them because they are too sensitive.’"

The documents, obtained Thursday by Canwest News Service under Access to Information legislation, run more than 500 pages and provide a window into Canadian foreign and military policies.

The opening section, which is stamped "secret," includes the agendas and briefing notes for a NATO summit held April 2-4 in Bucharest, Romania, as well as mini-profiles on some of the other participants.

The documents cover topics ranging from arms control in the Middle East, missile defence and troop deployments in Afghanistan to climate change, NATO enlargement, concerns about a "resurgent Russia," and the al-Qaida threat in Pakistan.

Although a substantial amount of information is disclosed, dozens of paragraphs and many full pages in the documents were blacked out on the grounds that disclosure would jeopardize national security, the defence of Canada or its allies, and the conduct of international affairs.

Documents dealing with Afghanistan were among the most heavily censored.

Thomas Mulcair, NDP deputy leader, and Pierre Paquette, Bloc Quebecois House leader, echoed Rae and said the fact it took the government more than year to supply the documents under Access to Information legislation reinforces its penchant for secrecy and controlling the message.

Bernier resigned in May 2008 after revelations he had forgotten cabinet documents at Couillard’s home in Laval, Que.

In southern Ontario on Thursday, Harper brushed off questions about the newly released documents. He told reporters he considered Bernier’s resignation to be the end of the matter.

An internal review of the case released in August 2008 found that Bernier’s mistake had tarnished Canada’s reputation with its NATO allies but that it did not "cause significant injury to the national interest."

Paquette said the heavy censorship shows Bernier put Canada’s security and reputation in danger by misplacing the documents and that Harper was wrong to play down the importance of the documents," he said.

"It’s just the tip of the iceberg because we know (there are) a lot of other files the Harper government tries to misrepresent or hide (from public scrutiny)," he said.

Mulcair said the delay in making the documents public shows the government was trying to put some distance between the Bernier-Couillard affair and the release.

"It’s just one more indication of Harper’s strong undercurrent of always trying to control secrecy and messaging," he said.

With file from Mike De Souza