Harper tells Governor General not to attend soldiers' return

Never, in our history, has the death of soldiers in combat been a private matter. The government's claim that it is protecting the privacy of military families has been denounced as a lie by two of those families. Jim Davis, father of one of the soldiers, called it a "terrible mistake" this morning on Canada AM.

The decision to stop flying the flag on the Peace Tower at half mast appears to be coincidental.

The constitutional issue that is raised is whether this is an appropriate occasion for the Governor General to tell her advisers to pound sand. I tend to think it is, although it is a close call. To the extent the government has a policy reason for what it is doing, I would not want the GG to second guess it.

Note that Dalton McGuinty and Ralph Klein are both putting the boots in.