Harper Government Took Nearly Four Years to Respond to Access to Information Request

The Ottawa Citizen first requested expense reports for the prime minister’s trip to a Stanley Cup game in 2006.

The documents released to the Citizen ultimately didn’t reveal anything scandalous, but critics say the Privy Council Office’s nearly four-year delay in making them public is emblematic of the unnecessary secrecy practiced by a government that campaigned on transparency. Stephen Harper and six Tory MPs flew to Edmonton in 2006 for a Stanley Cup game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes, and at the time, the Citizen requested a fairly routine itemized list of expenses for the group. The Privy Council Office stalled until two months ago, citing privacy concerns. Some observers say the Conservative government has repeatedly delayed responding to Access to Information requests on sensitive subjects until their news value has evaporated.