Ignatieff vows to give watchdogs teeth, decries Harper for eroding independence

OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff is promising to give real teeth to federal watchdogs even if it means they come back to bite him one day.
The Liberal leader vowed Tuesday to strengthen and respect the independence of federal tribunals and commissions that protect the health and safety of Canadians, expose problems and hold government to account.
Unlike Stephen Harper, Ignatieff said, he's willing to put limits on prime ministerial power.
"We think this (Harper) government has weakened, compromised, often attacked the independence of these commissions that perform essential public business and are essential to our freedom," he told a news conference.
"I'm making a commitment as a potential prime minister that I understand what keeps this country free, I understand what keeps this country democratic, which is independent institutions who, if I were prime minister, would give me some headaches. But frankly, those are the headaches that a prime minister has to accept."
Ignatieff made the commitment immediately following a two-hour, Liberal-sponsored panel discussion on democratic governance, which included three former federal watchdogs whom Liberals claim have been muzzled by the Harper government.
The discussion was one of a series the Liberals are staging on Parliament Hill all week in a bid to emphasize their opposition to Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament until March 3.
Ignatieff's take on Harper's cavalier treatment of independent oversight agencies meshed neatly with the Liberals' overall theme this week that the prime minister is contemptuous of democratic institutions.
However, one of the panel participants reminded Liberals that they haven't always been shy about interfering with supposedly independent agencies themselves.
Political scientist Ned Franks recalled it was Jean Chretien's Liberal government that shut down the inquiry into the conduct of Canadian troops in Somalia and fired the head of the Business Development Bank after he refused a loan to a hotel in which Chretien had once had a financial interest.
"Everyone has to learn here to respect institutions of independent oversight. ... There are lessons for every political party," Ignatieff acknowledged later.
Linda Keen - who was summarily fired as Canada's top nuclear safety regulator after resisting government pressure to reopen the trouble-plagued Chalk River reactor in 2007 - told Liberals that the heads of federal tribunals are "under attack" by the government.
She said her firing "was an attack without precedent in Canada" and it has had a chilling effect on other tribunal heads who are afraid to take tough stances for fear of losing their jobs.
"Administrative tribunals are to serve Canadians, not short-term political views," Keen said in a videotaped presentation to the panel.
"We should not tolerate the sacrificing of the protection of Canadians for political advantage."
The panel also included Peter Tinsley, former head of the Military Police Public Complaints Commission. His term was allowed to expire last month even though he was in the middle of a complicated investigation into allegations that Afghan detainees were routinely tortured after Canadian soldiers handed them over to Afghan authorities.
On Monday, the lawyer for one of the key witnesses in the commission's investigation, Richard Colvin, alleged the government is punishing the whistleblower diplomat by refusing to pay for his legal expenses.
Liberals also heard from Paul Kennedy, the outspoken former chairman of the RCMP public complaints commission whose term was not renewed. The government last week named Ian McPhail, a Conservative organizer whose law career has centred on real estate and wills, as interim chairman for a year.
Kennedy suggested McPhail isn't up to the job, saying the position requires someone with in-depth knowledge of criminal law, "one of the most complex areas of the law currently."
"I am not a person you would come to if you had an issue of real estate or wills. You would be in trouble, yet I'm a lawyer," he said.
"The converse equally applies. ... If you have no expertise in criminal law, there's very little added value you can bring (to the RCMP complaints commission.)"
The three former watchdogs and two academics offered a number of possible recommendations for bolstering the independence of federal oversight agencies. Among them, allowing members of such agencies to serve for fixed, non-renewal terms and to be fired only for cause, ensuring they won't try to curry favour with or be afraid of the government of the day.
They also suggested that steps need to be taken to avoid conflicts of interest, in which a minister who is responsible for a watchdog agency gets to appoint the chair and decide how much money it gets.
They also recommended a public appointments commission to ensure that those who are named to watchdog agencies are qualified and independent.
Harper promised such a public appointments commission in 2006 - and again in the 2008 election - but it has never materialized.
Ignatieff said he'd "seriously consider" reviving the idea. He also said he's open to the idea of making some watchdog agencies answerable to Parliament, rather than the government.