Tory MP Says CBC Could Be in 'Contempt of Parliament'

Failing to comply with an access-to-information request has the CBC fending off accusations that it, like the Conservative party, has no regard for Parliament.

A Conservative MP says that CBC would be in contempt of Parliament if they refuse to release records sought by access-to-information requests to a closed-door committee meeting. Considering what happened to the Tories after they were found to be in contempt in March, though, we suppose this could be a sign of good things to come for the public broadcaster.

(Warning: Things get a a little "Inside Baseball" here...) Dean Del Mastro, the MP for Peterborough, Ont., and the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, says that CBC must hand over the requested information in a meeting of the House's ethics committee. The info wouldn't be made public. Those same records are currently the source of a battle between CBC and Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, who doesn't buy the broadcaster's claims that releasing the information would compromise their journalistic practices. So now Del Mastro wants the committee he chairs to take a look at the documents to determine whether or not the CBC's claims hold up. The CBC has yet to indicate whether they'd comply with Del Mastro's demand. Del Mastro, by the way, is the same MP that recently called Liberal MP Justin Trudeau a "bad Catholic" due to his political positions, adding yet another layer of irony to this little ethics committee brouhaha. The NDP's Paul Dewar has charitably described the Tories' efforts at getting CBC to release its info as a new means for the party to raise contributions, now that the gun registry is about to be offed once and for all.