A few months ago, when every vote counted, Prime Minister Stephen Harper thought Information Commissioner John Reid was a pretty smart fellow. Harper's Conservatives campaigned on a promise to implement Reid's blueprint for a more open, accountable federal government as an antidote to the corruption and waste of the sponsorship scandal.

He labelled the Conservatives' proposals "retrograde and dangerous," and warned they would erode the information commissioner's powers, make less information public, "and increase government's ability to cover up wrongdoing, shield itself from embarrassment and control the flow of information to Canadians."

Why have the Conservatives broken so many promises? The government's discussion paper contends that "concerns" have been raised about Reid's proposals since they were released last fall. The source of these concerns is not identified, but it's a safe bet they are the secrecy-obsessed bureaucrats Reid has been criticizing for years.