Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have to make a comment on Mr. Calandra's points in terms of his claim that the government is more accessible. In fact, where it really matters the government is much less accessible.
The fact that the Canadian Wheat Board and the CBC have opened up is all well and good, with one exception. Part of the reasoning in opening that up is the government wants to find ways of attacking the very institutions they're responsible for. We see that with the Minister of Agriculture and the Canadian Wheat Board all the time. But where access to information really matters to all Canadians, at the centre of power, the PMO and less so ministers' offices--because all the power in this government rests with the PMO--that access to information is far less available than it ever was, in my view.
I'd offer members of the government a suggestion from the official opposition. We have produced a document called Opening Government to Canadians. Right off the bat we say: “The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to democratic renewal--and that means a commitment to open government.”
I'd suggest we're committed to four points. One is to immediately restore the long-form census, and I do have a question for you on that particular issue in a moment.
Two, we would make as many government data sets as possible available to the public online free of charge at opendata.gc.ca in an open and searchable format. Those are some of the things that are happening in some other countries, and we'd start with Statistics Canada data, including data from the long-form census.
Three, we'd post all access to information requests, responses, and response times online.
And fourth, we'd make information on government grants, contributions, and contracts available through a searchable online database.
That's what we're suggesting the government do. That's what we as the official opposition are committed to doing should an election occur.
As you know, the government has substantially cancelled the mandatory long-form census. From your perspective, or maybe you don't care to answer, has that presented a limitation on the information or the accuracy of information that is available to the Canadian public, or will it in the future when this census is done?