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Companies … have been subjected to bizarre gag rules

Perhaps it is — that’s for lawyers to decide. But unless the information contained in the contracts rises to the level of military secrets or classified national security information, why is the government barring private companies from speaking with the media? Military procurement projects, even if they’re run well (rarely the case in Canada, alas) are enormously expensive. Military equipment, especially naval vessels, must be built to high tolerances because it must stand up to heavy use for decades of service. This is big money, and the public has every right to know what their government is spending it on.

It seems our open and transparent government feels otherwise. Government officials offered no comment in reply to Postmedia’s inquiries into the matter — whether or not they see the irony in that is another question they probably wouldn’t answer. But Postmedia was told by other would-be defence providers, and was able to confirm through our own efforts, that such gag orders are not unusual. The Liberal government seems to view keeping journalists in the dark as being equally important as providing for our men and women in uniform.

The Liberal government seems to view keeping journalists in the dark as being equally important as providing for our men and women in uniform

This isn’t a new problem. A 2017 report by News Media Canada found that the federal government had actually become less transparent since the Liberals took office. The Liberals replied by saying the system they had inherited from the Conservative government was very bad (fair enough) and that they would fix it through legislation. Their legislation, however, was roundly panned by the government’s own information commissioner. As she prepared to retire in 2018, Suzanne Legault said in an interview that, “The government is sliding into more secrecy and actually not delivering on its promise … Disclosure rates are down with this government, surprisingly.”

Legault was surprised. Any journalist doing business with the federal government wouldn’t be. Openness and transparency made a good talking point for the Liberals in 2015. But it was clearly never more than that.