CBC access hearing put off by dispute over documents

A Commons committee continued its hearings on the access to information dispute between the CBC and the Office of the Information Commissioner Thursday, but a procedural dispute over motions derailed the schedule for future witnesses, including testimony from the CBC itself.

CBC President and CEO Hubert Lacroix was scheduled to appear before the Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee next Tuesday morning. Instead, the committee will spend that time considering a motion from Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro that would compel the CBC to produce the documents at the heart of the current controversy.

NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau said the committee needed to hear from legal counsel in camera and moved a motion to suspend the hearings until such legal advice could be sought.

Another motion from NDP heritage critic Charlie Angus to study other information commissioner's evaluations of all institutions' compliance with access to information requirements also must be debated and voted upon.

It's not clear when the remaining witnesses will appear.

Prior to this procedural dispute, the committee heard testimony from Marc-Philippe Laurin and  Karen Wirsig from the Canadian Media Guild and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison.  

Replay Kady O'Malley's liveblog:

Mobile-friendly auto-updating text version of Kady's liveblog also available here.  

Read Kady O'Malley's liveblogs from earlier meetings here.