This week’s column for 24HRS Vancouver: Snowden did citizens a service leaking surveillance secrets

The winner of last week’s duel on Canadian oil transportation was Laila Yuile with 64%.

This week’s topic:

Is Edward Snowden a whistleblower who deserves asylum in Russia or a traitor who should be tried and convicted in the U.S.?

Last year on my blog, I posted a transcript from a talk given by retired MP David Kilgour at a Rotary club in Ottawa. The title of his talk was Whistleblowers and Public Service Governance, which detailed the experiences of four Canadians whose stories demonstrated how the government would bully, harass, and discredit those who came forward to expose government malfeasance.

Read Brent Stafford’s column

The same is true for our American neighbours. Whistleblowers have historically been discredited, maligned and harassed by the very government they served. Both Daniel Ellsberg, with the Pentagon Papers in 1971, and, more recently, U.S. Army Pte. Bradley Manning, showed the world that contrary to popular thought, truth isn’t free – for some it comes with a cost that bankrupts both tangible assets and spirit alike….

Read the rest of this weeks column here: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2013/07/21/snowden-did-citizens-a-service-leaking-surveillance-secrets

And don’t forget, you have 48hrs to comment and all this week to register your vote!