“An ATIP release package is not a comms product.”
Political staff tried to spin Israeli military export data that Global Affairs Canada (GAC) was required to release under access law by inserting a paragraph that misleadingly claimed the exports were non-lethal.
The ministry’s director of access to information said he was “concerned” by the staff’s attempt to add the paragraph to a letter accompanying the export data, warning that “an ATIP release package is not a comms product.” The paragraph was ultimately not included in the package when it was released to The Maple in February.
A spokesperson from Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s office subsequently made false claims about the existence of the paragraph, and details about the attempted spin were only revealed through an additional access request filed by this publication.
The export data in question showed that the Trudeau government had authorized $28.5 million worth of export permits for sales of military goods to Israel during the first two months of that state’s brutal war on Gaza.
Further documents obtained by The Maple through access to information (ATIP) show that while the export data was being prepared for release, staff from Joly’s office wanted to intervene by adding a “caveat” paragraph to the ministry’s letter accompanying the data. Such letters are a standard document in ATIP release packages, but do not contain remarks on the contents of the package except to cite sections of the Access to Information Act in order to justify redactions. (more...)
Political Staff Tried To Spin Israel Arms Data — Then Lied About Doing So
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