Mr. Speaker, I will take the words of our government officials on this matter because they say that this has been a long-standing practice. However, we do not need to just believe them. We can listen to the former information commissioner, John Reid, who, in his report in 1999, explicitly blamed the office of then minister, Art Eggleton, for having systematically leaked the names of requesters of access to information to the political staff of the minister's office. That practice was a violation of the law which we reject and it will not continue under this government.
In the House of Commons on September 22nd, 2006. See this statement in context.