Former prime minister Joe Clark says the suspension of three senators over alleged āgross negligenceā regarding their expense claims was ādangerousā because all the facts arenāt in.
In an interview with CTVās Power Play to promote his new book, āHow We Lead: Canada in a Century of Change,ā Clark said he āunderstands the impulsesā behind the move to suspend Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau without pay or access to Senate resources for the remainder of the Parliamentary session.
But, he said, āIām concerned that it was action before the evidence was in, and I think thatās always dangerous.ā
Clark warned that the move carries a risk of setting a precedent.
āNot a precedent about bad behaviour but a precedent about independent behaviour,ā Clark said.
āOur Senate after all was supposed to provide an independent point of view and at its best it has. So Iām worried about that. And of course the other aspect of this, as others have been saying, is thereās an awful lot of information that should be in the public domain thatās not in the public domain about who knew what and when in the Prime Ministerās Office.ā
Clark did not reserve his criticism for the federal governmentās move to suspend the three senators. He also questioned foreign policy decisions, the main thrust of his new book, saying āitās time to restore some balanceā to the file.
He said there is a role for Canada to play in areas such as mediation and conflict resolution, āthe so-called soft power things at which we used to be one of the worldās great leaders and the Harper government shows very little interest in.ā
Clark said the decision to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka over that countryās human rights record and the severing of diplomatic ties with Iran are two examples of decisions that limit Canadaās ability to play a constructive role in world affairs.
āThe need for a trusted country that can mediate others, that can find agreement, is greater than it even was back in the post-war period,ā Clark said. āSo itās a funny field for us to be abandoning, and other countries are going to be picking up and filling the space that weāre leaving vacant.ā
He praised Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for taking āsome vigorous standsā on issues, including the ongoing violence in Syria.
However, he said, āthe issue here really is, is it enough simply to have a principle and to state it, or do you have to go into unpleasant circumstances and fight for that principle? Thatās what theyāre really not doing.ā
In particular, Clark said, Canada needs to engage more with parties in the Middle East, particularly Iran, which will play āa major roleā in both world and regional events āfor a long time to come.
āWeāre far better off on the ground knowing what theyāre doing, learning what theyāre doing, listening to anything they might say in confidence that they wouldnāt say in public than we are being out of the play,ā he said.
