OTTAWA - The official opposition says a private member's bill aimed at prying opening the CBC's books is hypocritical and represents an ideological attack on the public broadcaster.

Tory MP Brent Rathgeber's Bill C-461 proposes to force the CBC to disclose salaries of its highest paid and would eliminate a clause - section 68.1 - in the Access to Information Act allowing it to withhold information it says could compromise its "journalistic, creative or programming activities."

Rathgeber says that clause is abused and needs to be revisited.

"I think there's a reasonable compromise between civil servants' rights to privacy and the public's right know how much it pays its senior managers."

NDP heritage critic Pierre Nantel said the bill would curb the broadcaster's independence and that employee pay scales are already available on request.

"This bill attacks the public broadcaster and is a solution in search of a problem," he said.