Toews brings the irony

Vic Toews and his subtle sign.

The Sunday announcement from Public Safety Minister Vic Toews on cyber security and the need to protect the government's online systems from attacks seemed to have an Orwellian bizarro undercurrent to it. Look at the picture, it says so much. "Secure information. Secure Future." That's bold in this long-form census axing era. That move means that this government is likely doing more than any government ever has to destabilize the information base of the Canadian government. They're the ones leading the attack on government information. By doing away with that tool, as we well know by now, a key source of information that allows for planning and measured implementation of government services is jeopardized. But here was Toews yesterday:

“He said there is concern over the security of the government’s 130 programs and services offered over the Internet.

“All of these are then subject to criminal interference or interference by other states who are interested in accessing information,” Toews said Sunday.

Canadians are subject to attacks on their banking information, on their personal information. . . . There is a responsibility to ensure that our government programs are secure, so that your information that you share with the government is secure.”

The information we share should be secure and no, we don't want the government to be vulnerable to cyber attacks et al. That's really not so controversial.

But "secure information" and a "secure future" is not just about keeping the baddies out. It's also about healthy informational inputs into the government to support those government services. On that score, they're shaping up to be one of the worst governments in history.