““As opposition leader, [Stephen Harper] wrote in the Montreal Gazette in the year before he came to power: 'Information is the lifeblood of a democracy. Without adequate access to key information about government policies and programs, citizens and parliamentarians cannot make informed decisions and incompetent or corrupt governments can be hidden under a cloak of secrecy.' When he became prime minister, his attitude appeared to undergo a shift of considerable proportions. It often took the Conservatives twice as long as previous governments to handle access requests. Sometimes it took six months to a year.””
![“As opposition leader, [Stephen Harper] wrote in the Montreal Gazette in the year before he came to power: 'Information is the lifeblood of a democracy. Without adequate access to key information about government policies and programs, citizens and parliamentarians cannot make informed decisions…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a8a/lawrence-martin-40750_access-to-informatio_as-opposition-leader-stephen-harper-wrot_1717755.jpg)
![“[Stephen] Harper had said he would use all legal means, and what [John] Baird suggested was an option the prome minister was considering. If the governor general had refused his request, he could have replaced her with a more compliant one, making the case to the Queen that the people of Canada…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4a0/lawrence-martin-40750_canada_stephen-harper-had-said-he-would-use-all_1053260.jpg)
![“The conservatives had started bringing demagoguery to the table on the [Afghan] war issue the previous fall [fall 2006]. Whenever opposition members criticized the war policy, assorted Tories accused them of being disloyal and of failing to support the troops…[Harper] was gaining the reputation of…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e8a/lawrence-martin-40750_canadian-politics_the-conservatives-had-started-bringing-d_528161.jpg)
![“[Harper] once told a friend, "I think about strategy twenty-four hours a day," and it was only a small exaggeration.” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/790/lawrence-martin-40750_canadian-politics_harper-once-told-a-friend-i-think-about_2053816.jpg)
![“Earlier in [2007] the [Prime Minister's Office] had also drawn criticism for trying to muzzle the judiciary. The reproach came from Antonio Lamer, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court…'I must say I was taken aback,' said Lamer, who sat on the Supreme Court for twenty years. 'The prime…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d56/lawrence-martin-40750_antonio-lamer_earlier-in-2007-the-prime-minister-s-off_2163281.jpg)
![“For [Stephen] Harper, a national daycare plan bordered on being a socialist scheme, a phrase he had once used to describe the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. For [Paul] Martin, whose plan would have transferred to the provinces $5 billion over five years, the national program was what…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be8/lawrence-martin-40750_canada_for-stephen-harper-a-national-daycare-pl_2174969.jpg)
![“Attempts to thwart or muzzle the media continued as well. At a conservative caucus meeting in Charlottetown in August 2007, journalists assembled in the lobby of the hotel, as they usually do at such gatherings, to talk to caucus members as they passed by. The [Prime Minister's Office]…” quote by Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/32a/lawrence-martin-40750_canadian-politics_attempts-to-thwart-or-muzzle-the-media-c_2488258.jpg)
