Mr. Speaker, one of the perplexing things about the Liberal government is that it is just not open about information. As a comparable situation, I have noticed this particularly with respect to the press conferences being held by government officials with respect to terrorism lately. When we tune into CNN, government officials in the U.S. from the president on down seem eager to give the maximum amount of information to their citizens so that they are fully apprised of what is being done. In Canada however, it is like squeezing orange juice out of a lemon. It is impossible to get any information out of the government.
I noted with interest that in testimony to the foreign affairs committee, an organization called Probe International made mention of this. It asked for the five year report from the auditor general and was told that he was not permitted by legislation to disclose it but that the inquirer should go directly to the corporation, which they did. When they asked for that information they were told that it was confidential information and was not available.
At the same time, the witness at the committee said that a letter was written to the United States Export-Import Bank requesting details of a similar, almost identical situation. Included in the response to a Canadian from an American bank which was involved in a comparable situation was information including tables, accounting, rescheduling agreements and the whole thing. The Americans seem to be more accessible or more willing to give information to its citizens and even Canadian citizens than is our own government.
I believe it is a culture. It is time for the Government of Canada to level with its citizens and give them as much information as it can rather than hide behind all of those other little rules all the time which prevents Canadians from knowing what is happening to their money.