Another update…….

On Wednesday, July 1, as we were going around town, ending at the church for the noon Eucharist, “Happy Canada Day” was floating through the air, tripping off tongues as easily as ‘how-de-do’. We weren’t so ready to be patriotic, and disappointed ourselves by limply answering with “and to you, too”, rather than speaking out.

Why? Just that morning, another email from our Montreal lawyer told us that federal civil servants, our federal civil servants, employees of Correctional Service of Canada, are continuing to procrastinate on delivering potentially incriminating and damaging information which they are compelled by law to disclose. This is how CSC operates……obstruct, delay, challenge, obfuscate, stall. For instance, this lawyer has a client who has been waiting five years so far for CSC HQ in Ottawa to respond to a third-level grievance.

What to do, we asked in a response to Montreal? Take it up a notch. Go over their heads. Go to Ottawa and picket CSC headquarters on Laurier Avenue. Get some media attention. Tell their mothers. Options there are. But, the need for them is inexcusable.

We received another email on Monday, July 6, after Montreal made further efforts to shake fruit from the tree. Not to worry, he was told by the information and privacy division of CSC, but processing requests that include 5 videos takes longer than projects involving only the scanning of documents. That’s their story now, but they know we’re approaching the end of their line. The new estimate for completion of the work is one week, and Montreal asks us to wait for an outcome before looking at options.

Oh, Canada? …..not so much for us.