A suspected Taliban prisoner is searched, handcuffed, and processed by Canadian soldiers in northern Kandahar on May 10, 2006.JOHN D MCHUGH
The opening shots have been fired in the Commons in what could become a bitter war over Parliament's right to know and the government's right to keep secrets.
Opposition MPs have fumed for months over the government's refusal to hand over controversial documents on the Afghan detainee issue.
They now are seeking a formal ruling from the Speaker that the refusal is a violation of parliamentary privilege.
They say the government is mocking parliamentary rights and privileges that date back centuries by denying MPs access to the material.
Liberal Derek Lee says Parliament will be harmed if the government holds its ground.
"If we do not stand up for our parliamentary role on behalf of Canadians ... there is no one else out there to do it," Mr. Lee said.
If the Speaker makes a formal finding of violation, Lee is ready to bring in a motion finding the government in contempt and directing the Commons sergeant-at-arms to go out and seize the documents.
This could bring on a bitter constitutional fight between the rights of the executive and the legislature.
The NDP and the Bloc have proposed a somewhat less confrontational motion that would give the Afghan committee three weeks to produce rules for viewing sensitive documents while protecting their secrecy. The government would have a week after that to respond and a refusal would trigger another contempt motion.
The Conservative government says it cannot give the uncensored material to a special Commons committee on Afghanistan because of national security considerations.
Liberal Bob Rae says national security is a concern for all MPs, but there are ways to maintain it while still allowing them to do their jobs.
"It is perfectly possible for unredacted documents to be seen by members of Parliament who have been sworn in for the purpose of seeing these documents," he said.
The government has asked former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to look at the documents and offer an opinion as to how much can be released.
The opposition says that's a stall tactic.