Mr. Speaker, on a point of order pursuant to Standing Order 39, I placed a question on the Order Paper on September 30, 1994. That was 143 days ago.
As the question required a detailed response, I did not request that the answer be provided within 45 days as the Standing Orders allow.
I am seeking information on grants from the Canada Council. The government has failed to provide the information requested and the Canada Council is already exempt from access to information requests. Now it appears to be exempting itself from usual parliamentary procedures and the expectations of this member of Parliament.
In these times of government restraint taxpayers are demanding that government funds be used responsibly so it is my role to ask questions to ensure that this happens. However someone has chosen not to answer the question. Why is this information being hidden from Canadians?
One hundred and forty-three days is an unacceptable length of time to respond to my question which I shall pose again:
For 1992 and 1993, what was the total amount of funds received by individuals and groups from the Canada Council, who were these individuals, for what specific projects did they receive funding and how much did they receive?