CBC: MacKay denies Afghan committee request

[tuvor]

Minister wouldn't waive right to solicitor-client privilege on adviser's testimony

The Conservative government has refused a parliamentary committee's request to allow the military's former top lawyer to testify without legal restrictions on the Afghan detainee affair, CBC news has learned.

Letters obtained by CBC news show that Defence Minister Peter MacKay was unwilling to waive the government's right to solicitor-client privilege when it comes to the testimony of the military's one-time senior legal adviser, despite a request for it to do so from the House of Commons special committee on Afghanistan.

Last November, retired brigadier-general Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian Forces, was called to testify before the committee as it investigated the Canadian government's handling of Afghan detainees.

During his committee appearance, Watkin refused to answer several questions on what he knew about the government's detainee policies, sparking a series of heated debates with MPs.

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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/31/afghan-detainees-lawyer-watkin.html