Joe Oliver's $800-per-table fiscal update

New Democrat finance critic Nathan Cullen is right by saying that Finance Minister Joe Oliver's decision to deliver his fall economic update in front of a $800-per-table Canadian Club crowd could constitute contempt of Parliament.

"As legislators, MPs must have access to this information to be able to do their job," Cullen told the House of Commons Monday. "We must be able to analyze the state of the finances of this country."


By sharing the details of those finances at a private lunch, Cullen said, the minister not only "impeded our access" to the information, but also "flouted the democratic principle stating that elected officials should have access to this information before bankers and other financiers."