Mr. Speaker, like most MPs in the Chamber on all sides of the House, I am anxious to help government cut wasteful spending.
With that in mind, I had occasion to ask officials in various ministries to supply me with the actual grant applications of certain special interest groups that regularly receive government funding.
I have been denied those applications. They have been withheld pending formal rulings under the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. I have been told, and I know it sounds incredible, that the names and addresses on the forms may be confidential.
This is crazy. The legislation that is supposed to open government is closing it. There is no excuse for not being able to see, on demand, what special interest groups actually promised to do in exchange for the government grants they receive.