Mr. Speaker, starting with the end of the member's question first, one of the reasons that it is becoming almost impossible to get access to information requests out within 30 days is because of the avalanche of requests that are coming forward. We do not know exactly where these are coming from, but from the tone of some of the requests one could guess that many of them are coming forward from the opposition.
Why is that? Does the opposition want to look forward? Does the opposition want to take advantage of the new accountability measures around spending on grants and contributions? No. The opposition is focused, as usual, backwards, looking back into the past.
I am really glad the member described what was bothering her which came out in the news yesterday. It gives Canadians the opportunity to see what went on in the committee. While members on the government side were trying to fix this particular situation so it would never happen again, the members of the opposition were acting like children in a schoolyard wondering who said what to whom and who was at what meeting. It was like the gossip capital of the world. It did no one any good as far as making sure that Canadian tax dollars are well spent and invested in Canadians, as they are supposed to be.
This whole thing about who did what to whom, on what day and what day a memo was sent is just so wasteful. In a way it sort of dirties up the whole process.
I have been accused of whitewashing. I am trying to state the facts as I know them in a clear way and keep my vision on the future as to how to make things work better for Canadians. I am not obsessed with looking backwards. If that is considered to be a whitewash, then so be it.
I think Canadians want to march toward hope. They want to know that their government members are working hard on their behalf to make sure things work out well with their tax dollars. That is exactly what we are doing and we are being assisted by the auditor general.