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The Conservative government has put to rest concerns that independent officers of Parliament will soon be required to vet their communications strategies through the Privy Council Office.

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan moved quickly during Question Period Thursday to shut down opposition attacks over a new policy first brought to light earlier this week during a committee appearance by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser.

“The policy in question applies to government departments, not to the independent agents of Parliament, regardless of what those independent agents may conclude,” Mr. Van Loan told the House of Commons.

“This government has no intentions of requiring those independent agents to vet their communications through the government in any way.”

The issue came to the fore during a Commons public accounts committee meeting when Ms. Fraser told MPs that, on paper, she and the seven other independent officers of Parliament will soon be required to vet their communications strategies through the PCO, the central government department that reports to Mr. Harper.

“Well, I can tell you there is no way that my press releases about my report are going to go to Privy Council Office, or our communications strategies are going to be vetted by the Privy Council Office," Ms. Fraser told the committee.

A spokesman for Treasury Board President Vic Toews explained Wednesday that policies conflicting with the independence of the officers do not apply to them because they are independent by law – and laws trump policies.

With a report from Gloria Galloway