the transparency question

So today, we learn that the government wants to discontinue public hearings of parliamentary committees. The explanation for this: public officials feel they are often roughed up publicly by committee members. So? I see public officials being upbraided by U.S. Congressional committees all the time. Yet I don’t hear anyone there complaining that these meeting should be held in private. Seems we only want to emulate the U.S. when it comes to superficial stuff like having a U.S.-styled state seal and White House-style press briefings. But when it comes to substantive changes, we’re loath to embrace the example of our northern idols.

If you ask me what we need in T&T is more and not less transparency. It’s amazing the lack of civic awareness in T&T.  That people would sit by and allow the government to take this retregrade step, in 2008, speaks to the type of apathy that encourages the worst type of dictatorships. These are the ones in which the leaders don’t even have to actively oppress the masses as they so willingly acquiesce in their own oppression.

Is this Vision 2020 thinking? 2020 BC perhaps?