Information & Ethics committee  I'll defer to Mr. Wernick in a second here, but in my experience in dealing with the law now, dating back more than 30 years, I would say there still exists a very strong culture of protecting the bureaucracy and in some cases protecting the political masters. I understand that is a very broad generalization, and probably very unfair to a great number of people who I think are excellent advocates of disclosure within the system and are basically fighting for public access to the right to know.

Information & Ethics committee  Thanks very much. It's also good to see that one of us has had an advancement in our career. The reason is that so much of information is staged for us today. So much of journalism is actually taken from whatever is laid in front of us. Then there's also a certain amount that we have to react to, whether it's a tragedy or an event of some sort where we have to simply be there to respond and be the chroniclers of that.

Information & Ethics committee  I used to say that the system was cumbersome, confusing and costly. Now it's just cumbersome.

Information & Ethics committee  Unquestionably, and I would say, particularly in light of an increased context in which governments are becoming more and more sophisticated at controlling messaging, that the public has an opportunity as part of its democratic exercise to avail itself of a right to know, and largely things that governments don't wish on any given day to necessarily disclose.

Information & Ethics committee  No.

Information & Ethics committee  I would agree with Mr. Wernick that of course at the point of deliberations before decisions are reached, cabinet confidences are quite apt. I would argue, though, for an earlier disclosure of the inputs after the decisions are taken than there is today.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's good to see Michael Wernick today. Thank you so much for the opportunity to discuss access to information reform with you today. I'm Kirk LaPointe. I'm the publisher and editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver, the business news outlet in British Columbia, and the vice-president of editorial for the Glacier Media chain of news outlets, the largest in western Canada.