SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 295

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 8, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 295 - Apr/8/24
Mr. John Nater
  • Apr/8/24 12:28:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil for the excellent work he is doing as chair of the ethics committee, which has been working overtime these last number of months to root out scandal and corruption. He talks about the decline in democracy and the challenges that we as parliamentarians face in getting information. The concept of “open by default”, that we should be able to see the documents and the information on what this government is doing, is laughable now after over eight years. The ATIP system is broken. We see examples of years upon years of individuals waiting to get what should be fairly simple documents from the government. We see committees being given the runaround when requesting fairly simple information. We see this across the board in all aspects of parliamentary life, where parliamentarians, who are sent here to do their jobs, are unable to do them because of the lack of information. Open by default, eight and a half years later, is now closed by default. We are not getting the information that we need, as parliamentarians, to do our job.
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Context: House Hansard - 295 - Apr/8/24
Mr. Alain Rayes (Richmond—Arthabaska, Ind.)
  • Apr/8/24 3:11:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, ever since I have been an MP, we have received the list of proposals that have been granted or denied New Horizons funding every February. New Horizons is a program that helps improve the lives of our seniors. Unfortunately, for some reason, we did not get that information this year, which makes it impossible for us to help organizations in our ridings. My office has sent three emails, made five phone calls and even sent a fax to the office of the Minister of Labour and Seniors. We have received no response, not even an acknowledgement. This is discouraging for members of Parliament trying to do our job. Can the minister explain why we are not getting this information? What is he going to do to fix this?
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Context: House Hansard - 295 - Apr/8/24
Mrs. Julie Vignola
  • Apr/8/24 4:58:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, thank you. I have a good voice, so when other voices drown me out, that is something. Yes, the committees need to get answers to their questions. Yes, parliamentarians are supposed to get answers, and witnesses are expected to provide all the information they have. However, in our democracy and in our justice system, we cannot presume that anyone is guilty. We have to presume that they are innocent. Is it possible that a person providing information is not hiding anything, but finds more information later? Yes, that is possible. Is that the case here? I could not say. The fact remains that when I look at the questions being asked and the answers being provided, I see that one of the main reasons why people refuse to provide information is the fear that the answer will be used against them. Committee members also have to do some soul-searching about the way they ask their questions and how they speak in public. We are responsible adults. We need to set an example. If our tone is intimidating and accusatory, and if we make connections where there are none, then the person could be concerned that what they say in committee will be held against them, unfortunately. This should not happen.
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