Mr. Speaker, since the Conservatives came to power, democracy, transparency and access to information have taken a beating.
Access to information requests are taking much longer to process, and that is when they are not blocked outright by political interference. Ministers either refuse to answer journalists' questions or are forbidden from doing so, as are government officials. Journalists' access to events is being increasingly restricted, which makes it impossible for them to provide balanced, impartial reports. The Conservative Prime Minister prefers to supply photos and videos produced by his own people so that he can control the tone and image conveyed.
This way of doing things is akin to propaganda and information manipulation. The outcome is that people do not have access to the facts or to clear, accurate information. We condemn this kind of excessive control and lack of transparency, which constitute a threat to democracy.