"Everything is a cabinet confidence because they say it's a cabinet confidence. It's become that silly."

- Liberal MP John McKay

The Government Operations and Estimates Committee is supposed to oversee spending and provide transparency and accountability in reference to government spending - in particular estimates on future spending.

Well, it's pretty damn hard to review future spending if even basic information is witheld.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/todays-paper/Secrecy+over+federal+cuts+under+fire/3956482/story.html

Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says departments can't manage the Harper government's three-year freeze on their operating budgets without cutting services to Canadians. But what those cuts are and how jobs or services will be affected remain cabinet secrets. Page, dispatched by MPs on the government operations committee in October to help them get a handle on the impact of the operating freeze, came back empty-handed. The government won't tell him details and has refused his requests for any information citing cabinet secrecy.

Page...argues the blocking of information is getting so out of hand that someone should be monitoring what's being refused to ensure they really are cabinet confidences.

The committee began its study on the freeze last April and made similar requests for basic information, such as how savings would be made, the risks of such reductions and whether they were one-time or ongoing cuts. The committee finally received a reply last week and was refused all information.

As John McKay points out, voting against the estimates could trigger an election, but with the cabinet secrecy trick, how can they know what they are supporting or voting down?

No kidding.  And how can Canadians know what they are supporting in an election as well if they aren't told what their tax dollars will be spent on, and what services, ones they have come to rely on, will cease to exist?

All Canadians need to put pressure on the opposition parties so that they don't give into this political blackmail.  If it leads to an election, fine.  Make it clear that it was brought on by the CON's denial of Canadians' right to know the basics of spending and cuts to programs and services.