Jolinar: They did not give them the info. They denied three requests for information on the basis of Cabinet confidence. Cabinet confidence does not actually exist in the sense that the government was using it.
"No exceptions are made for any category of government documents" - Speaker's ruling
The only limit that exists on what can be requested by a parliamentary committee is that the document in question actually exists. The Harper government was not claiming that the info did not exist, rather that it was protect by Cabinet confidence.
After the issue was brought to the Speaker, the government presented the committee with partial information:
"While initially Cabinet confidence was cited as a reason not to produce any of the documents, despite this, the government saw fit to partially comply with the Committee order, and a tabling of some material did eventually take place.Since then, no further reasons have been given as to why the balance of the documents should not or will not be tabled."
The committee was explicit in requesting information:
"The Chair was helped in this by the Committee’s order,which was quite explicit in the information it sought, even going so far as to list the bills for which information was required. While the Chair does not judge the quality of documents tabled in the House, it is clear from a cursory examination of the material tabled, that, on its face, it does not provide all the information ordered by the Committee."
The government had no basis to deny the information requested initially. Then they provided partial information withholding the rest without explanation.
I agree that the Conservatives were at a disadvantage due to the opposition holding more seats on the committee, but that just makes me wonder why they would refuse to comply with the rules of the House (knowing that they were outnumbered). I still have not seen a Conservative party member explain why they would not provide the rest of the information. I have only seen them accuse the committee of being biased.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/50397233/S...on-of-Document