OTTAWA - The federal government is being taken to court over its decision to withhold hundreds of pages -- some decades old -- in the Mounties' secret file on Tommy Douglas.
The Canadian Press has filed a motion in Federal Court seeking the release of sealed documents in the RCMP's security file on the storied Prairie politician.
The former NDP leader, a trailblazing socialist committed to social reform, is widely hailed as the father of medicare for championing universal health services.
Douglas caught the attention of RCMP security officers through his longstanding links with left-wing causes, the burgeoning peace movement and assorted Communist party members.
In the late 1970s, as the veteran politician neared retirement, the Mounties recommended keeping his file open based on the notion "there is much we do not know about Douglas."
Canadian Press reporter Jim Bronskill filed an access-to-information request in November 2005 for the RCMP's file on Douglas.
Personal files compiled by the RCMP's security and intelligence branch can be released through the access law 20 years after a subject's death. Douglas died of cancer at age 81 in February 1986.
Library and Archives Canada took more than a year to prepare a release of a 1,142-page dossier spanning nine volumes.
The declassified file on Douglas shows the Mounties surreptitiously attended Douglas's speeches, dissected his published articles and, during one Parliament Hill demonstration, eavesdropped on a private conversation.
But portions of Douglas's file were withheld from release because they concern security matters still deemed sensitive -- or personal information, such as confidential sources or the names of others who came under RCMP scrutiny.
Hundreds of pages, though decades old, remain completely sealed.
Bronskill complained to the federal Information Commissioner in January 2007 over the government's decision to withhold parts of Douglas's dossier.
A document filed recently in Federal Court says the complaint emphasized that Douglas has been dead for more than 20 years and some of the documents are older still -- some go back as many as 70 years.
"Uncensored access to historical records is understood to be fundamental to the functioning of democratic governments and societies, while the censorship of historical records is a frequent hallmark of totalitarian governments," the court document says.
The Information Commissioner replied this August -- more than two and a half years after Bronskill filed his complaint -- that Library and Archives was right to black out so much of the documents. That prompted the news agency to head to court. The government has yet to file its response.
Paul Champ, an Ottawa human rights lawyer representing The Canadian Press, is donating his time to the case in the public interest.
"Tommy Douglas was a political icon and an important figure in Canada's history. The fact that the RCMP investigated him for many years I think would not be surprising to many," Champ said.
"I think it's important for the full historical record to come out for Canadians and reporters and historians to see that information."
Scott White, the editor-in-chief of The Canadian Press, said Canadians have a right to know what's in Douglas's file.
"This is Canada's history that we're talking about," he said.
"After all these years, with all the principals long gone, there's no logical reason to keep this information from the public."
Heritage Minister James Moore, who oversees Library and Archives Canada, declined comment.
The Access to Information Act allows people who pay $5 to request files held by the federal government. The law requires a response within 30 days, though departments can take extensions under certain conditions.
