Members of Parliament tasked with coming up with a secure way of viewing sensitive Afghan war documents, say they are gradually getting closer to reaching an agreement.
Selected government and opposition MPs met for the second time Monday, as they work out a way for opposition members to view documents that may describe alleged torture of Afghan detainees at the hands of their Afghan captors.
The government has been forced to negotiate with opposition members on the issue after Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ruled that parliamentarians have an absolute right to see the uncensored version of the documents.
Milliken gave MPs until May 11 to work out a deal, which spurred the current talks. If they cannot come to an agreement, opposition parties could bring forward a contempt of Parliament motion that could trigger an election or a major court challenge.
But so far, all sides are saying that all the talks to date have been productive.
On Monday morning, Conservative Whip Gordon O'Connor said the talks with opposition parties have been fruitful so far and the latest meeting was "very productive."
"I think the negotiations are open, there (are) no bottom lines," said O'Connor, who suggested a deal could be in place by Friday.
"We're hoping that maybe by the end of the week we have a solution."
Liberal MP Ralph Goodale told reporters that parliamentarians involved in the negotiations are "making progress."
Outlining the Liberal position, Goodale said the government must produce the requested documents and realize that "any decision about security matters that might pertain to those documents is a decision to be taken by Parliament."
"It is not a decision that the government can arbitrarily take on its own," he added.
New Democrat MP Jack Harris said there is "an emerging consensus" on the issue.
Harris and fellow New Democrat MP Joe Comartin said the meetings have raised the possibility of having "at least one" member of each party assigned to look at the documents.
Each chosen MP would be sworn to secrecy and allowed to view the documents in question.
Government House leader MP Jay Hill confirmed "that's one of the things being considered."
Then there is the question of who would mediate any disputes among MPs about what documents are safe to release publicly. But talks are still at a preliminary stage on that issue.
Further meetings are scheduled later this week.
With files from The Canadian Press
