OTTAWA - Of course, election rumours have been swirling for some time now - so this is nothing new in itself. It seems, however, that the current Committee hearings may be the spark that some parties are looking for.

The charges of contempt of Parliament are as much a reason as an excuse for an election, however. Even still, there are many Conservative party supporters who are hoping for more transparency from their government. This is not to give 'ammo' to the opposition parties, but simply because as taxpayers we have a right to know how our government spends money.

Yesterday's Committee hearings were quite instructive. While the politicians simply waited for their chance to hurl barbs at each other, Canada's Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault delivered a passionate defence of free access to information. This is the simple truth, and while Ms. Legault and I may not agree on all points (for example, as Information Commissioner her task is purely to pursue information without regard to costs or relevance) I applaud this effort.

It is difficult to understand the Conservative party playbook on this file - I can certainly understand the desire of some within the party to trigger an election, but this is a poor way to do it. Granted, most Canadians are not 'gripped' by this issue and many are not even following it at all - but, with the prospects of a majority razor-thin it could be disastrous for the Conservatives to engineer their own defeat by being extra contemptuous right now. There are many people who are not impressed by massive spending on prisons, the full costs of which have been unclear.

While I do not share David McGuinty and Scott Brison's vehemence that these are unprecedented and underhanded moves, I do think our democracy and its conventions deserve more respect. Sadly, this is a phenomenon that began with the Conservatives or Stephen Harper. Do you recall the Liberal scandals that swept them to power in the first place? Scandals, bribery, and influence peddling inherently rely upon secrecy and non-disclosure; this is what makes something a scandal in the first place. To now deny their own legacy would be unjust to the Liberal brand.

If one listened closely to the Information Commissioner it was clear that this problem is widespread in the government. Some agencies and Crown corporations have abysmal response times/records to FOI requests. Across the board, response times to FOI requests are in decline as are the percentage of FOI requests that are met with a full disclosure of information. This is not a Conservative party agenda - many of the bureaucrats in positions of authority at these agencies and Crown corporations are not MPs or political appointees, they are career civil servants. Our federal government, as you might agree, has an efficiency problem across the board. I wish a Committee hearing could really get to the root of this issue, but alas that would require the Committee hearing to dissolve itself...

Regardless, even while demonstrably off-base, these contempt hearings could spark an election that many feel is unnecessary. It is certainly possible that even after an election, we would be facing the same issues, with the same minority government - except, our country would be out another $300-million.