QUESTION PERIOD — Privy Council Office
Access to Information
October 2, 2025
Government leader, recent reporting shows that the Privy Council Office, or PCO, which is the Prime Minister’s own department, has been the subject of at least 87 compliance orders from the Information Commissioner over two years, yet delays and denials continue.
The PCO is expected to set the standard for openness. Instead, it has become a bottleneck. Why has the government failed to ensure the PCO complies with its own legal obligations under the Access to Information Act?
I disagree with the premise of your question, Senator Housakos.
The government takes very seriously the possibility for the government to answer any information request. All of the dispositions of the law are followed by the government, by the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as by the Privy Council.
Government leader, I’m used to you not agreeing with the premise of my question, but are you disagreeing with the Information Commissioner? It is not Senator Housakos; it is the Information Commissioner.
The government promised openness and transparency, yet departments routinely delay, redact or outright deny requests that should be granted under the law we passed in this institution. The commissioner herself has described the system as in crisis. How can Canadians have confidence in government accountability when access to information is deliberately obstructed?
Once again, Senator Housakos, I disagree with the premise of your question. The government is committed to obeying the law. Yes, I repeat the answer. The government is — it is difficult, Senator Carignan, to answer a question of your own colleague when you are asking a question at the same time.
