iPolitics analysis: Behind closed doors? Committee secrecy varies widely

The opposition points fingers at the Conservatives. The Conservatives point fingers at previous Liberal governments. They each accuse the other of fostering a culture of secrecy that takes committee meetings in camera and leaves Canadians to wonder what is going on behind closed doors.

iPolitics set out to cut through the rhetoric and find out who was right.

An analysis of 920 committee meetings and more than 85,000 minutes of committee proceedings during the current Parliament and and equivalent period in 2003 during the last Liberal majority government reveals just which era has been the most secretive when it comes to Parliament’s standing committees.

A marked shift in recent weeks risks further undermining Canadians’ right to know what their MPs are doing.

There is also a wide range when it comes to secrecy. While one of the current committees has closed its doors to the public less than 2 per cent of the time, another has now spent 62.7 per cent of its time in camera. In some cases the watchdog committees charged with keeping an eye on Parliament are the ones spending the most time cloistered away from view.

We also look at how today’s committees compare to those in 2003 when it comes to how much work they get done – how many studies they undertake, how many reports they table and how many witnesses they hear. One committee outstrips all the others when it comes to being the hardest-working committee.

You might be surprised which one. Click here for more. 

Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Elizabeth Thompson