Information & Ethics committee  I think the notification could be in either form, and sometimes if it's a broad issue we might discuss it. There are minutes of those committee meetings, so the types of issues we're discussing are documented through those. If it were a specific issue in a particular department that the IM senior official wanted to raise, these people in particular, I would expect, would do that in a well-documented manner.

Information & Ethics committee  You're talking about a plan on...?

Information & Ethics committee  The information management plan? We were invited to discuss the directive, but I'd be pleased to talk to you a little about the implementation plan, if you wish.

Information & Ethics committee  There's a specific plan for the implementation of this new directive and, at the same time, a plan with a vision for information management within the government. These two plans work together and are very closely linked. The directive implementation plan is a plan over five years, as I mentioned in my presentation.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely. We have both an implementation plan for the recordkeeping directive and our five-year information management strategy and plan, both of which we could share with this committee if you would like.

Information & Ethics committee  Certainly.

Information & Ethics committee  Certainly, the former policy on information management had just four requirements; the new policy on information has nine. Then there is this directive as well as the directive on roles and responsibilities that are the companion pieces to the policy. Largely, we've gone to something that is much more explicit in terms of what the requirements are, how those requirements are to be implemented.

Information & Ethics committee  I can't answer that specific question right now. Could we get back to the committee with the answer to that?

Information & Ethics committee  There's a tremendous team of dedicated people doing the work on developing this directive, so I certainly wouldn't want to take a lot of the credit. I think the credit really goes to the team. But I do think that having worked at Library and Archives Canada and understanding the Library and Archives of Canada Act and what “disposition” means has been particularly helpful.

Information & Ethics committee  I believe it's a proposal that could work in the medium and long terms. The requirements of this directive should be put in place so that we are really capable of providing citizens with this kind of direct access to the Government of Canada. I think it's something that can be done.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, but I also believe a legislative framework is provided by Parliament and the Department of Justice that will determine what is done in this area in future. We apply the acts and regulations that are in place.

Information & Ethics committee  We didn't wait until the directive was in place before starting our work. We've been addressing this problem for some time now. We have a strategy and an implementation plan that are spread over five years. We are already in the second year of the implementation of that plan. One of the elements of the plan was precisely to put this directive in place.

Information & Ethics committee  If it's not identified and captured, it can't become accessible. And if you don't know where it is, and it's not structured in a way that allows you to retrieve it, it's not accessible. If we do both of those things better, then it should support the access to information.

Information & Ethics committee  That is a decision for parliamentarians and the government. Our job is to look at the current legislative framework and provide directives to departments on how to operate within it.

Information & Ethics committee  Certainly the roles and responsibilities directive, which I'm sorry we haven't provided, does require that employees document their business activities while in government. Assuming this directive on recordkeeping is implemented, that transition of employees and the knowledge transfer required should be significantly improved because the records of business value will be captured and organized in a way that makes them accessible not only for other purposes but to the people assuming those roles and functions going forward.