According to an internal e-mail and government sources, Prime Minister

Stephen Harper wants his cabinet ministers to be less accessible to the media. At least, so says an article in The Globe and Mail.

This means that any topic a reporter would like to discuss with one of the ministers that is not one of Mr. Harper's key five issues - a Federal Accountability Act, a GST cut, a child-care allowance, tougher criminal sentences and a patient waiting times guarantee - will need approval from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) before an interview is even granted.

This is ridiculous. The government should answer to its people and therefore the media, without having restrictions.

I can only imagine that having a government that is less accessible to its people will do more harm than good.

What is Mr. Harper trying to hide, and how far will his censorship go?

The Globe and Mail article goes on to say that this move is designed to give the government an appearance of focus, something the Liberals were criticized for not having.

This isn't focus, it's blatant censorship, since the government will now be controlling what news makes it into every paper in the country. So much for free speech and the public's right to know.

I can't even begin to express how much this angers me, especially since it's bringing back memories of the election and my difficulty with getting an opinion out of a certain candidate.

In fact, it was much harder to get Mr. Tilson's "opinion" than those of the other candidates.

At the first interview I went to have with him, I was told by a person in his office that I would need my questions to be approved first, and then I was told that Mr. Tilson wouldn't be able to answer about three of them.

However, to his credit he did answer them all. But I still felt that his answers were the party's answers and not necessarily his personal thoughts.

It's as if the cabinet ministers are being told not to think and not to have their own opinions.

When a minister is called for his thoughts, we want his thoughts, not the leader's.

I spoke briefly with Mr. Tilson on this and he said that he only knows as much as I do from reading the papers, as the government won't be calling the MPs back to Parliament Hill until April.

However, he also stated that there is nothing unusual about this, and it's what was said during the campaign - that Mr. Harper will be focusing on the five key issues and and so would he when doing public speeches or events.

This is just wrong. Sure, the government can have their issues they want the focus to remain on, but approval shouldn't be required for an interview that isn't about one of those topics.

I'm curious about what this will do for the government's image, as that's what they are focused on and what your opinion on this is.

If you'd like to share your thoughts with me on this or any other subject, you can either e-mail me at mail@citizen.on.ca or call 941-2230.