Mr. Chair, if I may, I must disagree with the member's characterization of events of the campaign and also with his broad generalizations.
I think it's important to understand that within my department we follow the rules when it comes to access to information. We're trying to provide that information on a more rapid basis. I'm hoping we'll have the results to show for that.
When it comes to dealing with media replies, my staff, in the instances we're talking about here, very clearly followed all of the guidelines of the Government of Canada's protocols and policies on communication. They did provide information, once it was available, in a responsible and prudent way.
I used to work in the private sector, and I know that when I was trying to place ads and get information for my own purposes, because I was paying the bill, I could get estimates, but in the time between my request for an estimate and the end of the actual campaign, there could be significant differences that were unanticipated.
So when somebody asks our department, through a media request--not an ATIP--for actual numbers, we think it's the responsible thing to do to make sure that information, which is to be provided to Canadian taxpayers, be timely, be accurate, and reflect the question that was asked. That's why we made sure we waited until the campaign was over. Once it was all over, we did provide much more accurate numbers than what could have been available, and we were able to do so in a responsible way.