Citizen complacency and The Government of Canada

The daily importance for each and everyone of us to work on the development of ethics, value , and compassion can never be blindly and entirely delegated to a third party, even if it is the government you elected. Here is an example of where we end up as a society when we limit our involvement to a vote every 4 years.

Former diplomats speak out the Conservative government's treatment of Richard Colvin, who spoke out on the treatment of Canadian detainees in Afghanistan

The Letter

The issues raised by the Richard Colvin affair are profound. Colvin, a Foreign Service Officer dedicated to discharging his responsibilities to the best of his ability under difficult circumstances, was unfairly subjected to personal attacks as a result of his testimony provided in response to a summons from a parliamentary committee.

While criticism of his testimony was perfectly legitimate, aspersions cast on his personal integrity were not. A fundamental requirement of a Foreign Service Officer is that he or she report on a given situation as observed or understood. It is only in this way that any government can draw conclusions knowledgeably and make its considered decisions, even if at variance with the reports received. The Colvin affair risks creating a climate in which Officers may be more inclined to report what they believe headquarters wants to hear, rather than facts and perceptions deemed unpalatable.

Serge April, Marc Baudouin, Michael D. Bell, Rod Bell, Eric Bergbusch, Fred Bild, Marius Bujold, Robert Collette, Jacques Crête, Brian Davis, Anne Marie Doyle, Paul Durand, James Elliott, Nick Etheridge, Marc Faguy, Robert Fowler, John M Fraser, James George, Donald Gilchrist, Stan Gooch, John Graham, Nick Hare, Jean-Paul Hubert, David Hutchings, Jeremy Kinsman, Rick Kholer, Gabriel Lessard, Daniel Marchand, Patricia Marsden-Dole, Émile Martel, François Mathys, Carolyn McAskie, John Mundy, John Noble, Gar Pardy, Gordon Riddell, Jacques Roy, Michael Shenstone, Joseph Stanford, Howard Strauss, William Warden, Peter Walker, Christopher Westdal, Jack Whittleton, Tim Williams, Ron Willson

Former Canadian ambassadors