All the sound and fury over the Helena Guergis affair, which may turn out to signify nothing, or very little, has served to camouflage matters more serious.

The story to watch this week is not Hurricane Helena. It is what will likely be an historic decision by House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken on executive power versus parliamentary power.

In many cases, the Harper government has been able to stay out of trouble by shielding information from the public eye. There are indications that it might soon pay the price.

Milliken will rule on the prime minister’s bid to defy the will of Parliament in blocking the Commons’ request for documents on the Afghan detainees affair.

The Conservatives have thus far only released heavily censored documents. They argue that to release them would jeopardize national security. It’s a convenient rationale and has been used and likely abused countless times on countless issues.

If Milliken rules in favour of the rights of Parliament, it could lead to a devastating string of embarrassments for the government. Recent testimony from a number of sources suggests strongly that contrary to what the government has been saying, it knew prisoners taken by Canadian soldiers were turned over to Afghan authorities for torture. Chances are good the uncensored documents will prove this. That would mean the government would be caught red-handed in having repeatedly misled Parliament with its statements on the matter. It would mean it could be found to have violated the Geneva Conventions and potentially face charges of war crimes.

It’s a good bet government lawyers are busy looking for loopholes in the system that will allow the government to challenge the Milliken ruling if it goes against them.

A related question of legalities is confronting the Harper team. Evidence is accruing to the effect that political operatives may have instructed civil servants to block the release of documents requested under the Access to Information Act. If such were the case, the actions would be a violation of the law. The last thing the government needs now are civil servants blowing the whistle on political manipulation of the access to information process.

These issues make the shenanigans of Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer pale by comparison. The explosive story in Ottawa is not that one. It is secrecy and censorship practised by the government and whether  developments in the weeks to come will blow the lid off what they have been doing.

Lawrence Martin is a journalist and author of 10 books who writes about national affairs from Ottawa.