Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Reid, you're on record as saying the following: “in one way or another, all the checks and balances designed to limit abuses of government power are dependent upon there being access by outsiders to governments’ insider information”, and you go on to say, “a government, and a public service, which holds tight to a culture of secrecy is a government and public service ripe for abuse”. I got that from a speech you gave somewhere, Mr. Reid. I couldn't agree with you more in the way you've stated that. I honestly think people don't realize what a powerful tool and a powerful gift they have in our “right to know” policies in this country. If they knew they would fight for them more aggressively, I honestly believe.
I heard one person say, imagine if we had 30 million auditors instead of just one overworked Auditor General. The amount of waste and corruption.... I'm not implying that there's that much corruption, but imagine how much better government would be. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, you can't legislate morality, but I think this bill and the recommendations you've made are making the argument that by allowing public scrutiny and by shining the light of day on the operations of government, we can encourage certain types of behaviour and discourage the stuff that we're trying to avoid. In the few minutes I have, I have to say it's a shameful lost opportunity that we're not dealing with meaningful access to information reform in the context of Bill C-2.
Actually, in the House of Commons I told the President of the Treasury Board that I would gladly trade him all this other stuff in Bill C-2 if he would give us the access to information reform that was promised to us in the election campaign, and I would make that offer today too, even though I think the lobbyist stuff is important and the appointments process is important--although due to a snit, the Prime Minister seems to have chucked that portion. Everything else pales in comparison to meaningful access to information reform--the public's right to know. There are very few government insiders that are really fans of the public's right to know, and I think this government and the last government, notwithstanding what Mr. Owen had to say, underestimated the push back from powerful Ottawa mandarins, from the PCO, and from I don't know who. The enemies of the right to know are legion, and they're well armed and they're well connected, because every time we get close, they undermine, and they thwart what we're going to do. Even direct promises from prime ministers are undermined by somebody who seemingly.... Those people who have a vested interest in operating in secrecy seem to win every single time.
I probably don't have any time left, but perhaps you'd care to comment, Mr. Reid. I should give some time to our witnesses to speak.
