Procedure and House Affairs committee  They are parallel and distinct processes. They can be carried out independently of each other. There is the parliamentary process, with all the procedures and codes that govern what you do. I really am no expert in that area. Furthermore, as a citizen residing in Canada, you have the right to make an access to information request.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think from what we see I can't make a generalized statement that the government is not complying with the spirit of the Access to Information Act. What I can say is if we look at the government statistics year over year in terms of the number of requests where all information was disclosed, that's been in steady decline as well.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It was about 40% in the year 2000, and we're now down to 16% in terms of the requests where all information was disclosed. So this is not just the Conservative government. This is a longstanding matter. What I'm concerned about is that this trend is not being reversed. In terms of the institutions that don't function well, last year's report card and this year's report card point to 15 institutions where we really have to have a serious look at how they apply the law.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My comment was not that this government must do that, but that all governments must do that, constantly. That way we would see a reversal in that trend.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's correct. I can say that it was even less than that. The budget has more than doubled certainly since I've been both assistant commissioner and commissioner at the OIC.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What are the best practices in provincial and territorial institutions? Mr. Chair, it's a very lengthy answer, I'm afraid. The short answer to the honourable member would be that, in my view, the federal government would be wise to look at the provinces and the territories. Some of the provinces, particularly B.C., Alberta, and Ontario, have had their legislation reviewed many times, and I would say they have much more modern pieces of access to information legislation.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, they have different models. Some models have order-making powers, some of them don't. In Canada there hasn't been, to my knowledge, a really good study of the various pros and cons of the various models. You have the Quebec commission, which is a completely different model.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As regards your first question, that is really a matter involving the parliamentary process. There are certain things you can do. That is what you are involved in here today, and that is what the Speaker of the House did when he made certain rulings. It really is up to parliamentarians, based on parliamentary procedure, to decide and take the necessary steps to ascertain how they can access the information they believe they are entitled to receive in order to do their job.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is about $12 million in total--

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First of all, what goes on in Parliament is a matter for parliamentary procedure. My responsibility is under the Access to Information Act and complaints that are made and the investigations that I do into these complaints. What I have on the go now has been a matter in the public domain for about a year, really.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  --including employee benefits and so on.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I do agree.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My budget is not quite $12 million. I just don't have the correct figure. The reason I'm saying that is because we did get emergency funding from the government this year in order to deal with our cases.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  For this year, it's part of that. I mean, $400,000; it's either $12.4 million or somewhere around there. I can get you the exact figure.