Information & Ethics committee  I don't know if any have at the provincial level. At the municipal level, I don't know if they've made a declaration per se, but in terms of declaration, I think I should mention that one has to be mindful that a declaration on its own is not sufficient. The Clinton administration in the 1990s also made a declaration in terms of fostering disclosure of information, and it hasn't led to the significant changes that we're seeing following the Obama initiative.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  It's certainly a consideration that we would need to have in terms of the information we disclose proactively. Right now, the way I understand it, anything that's posted on an institution's website has to be translated into both official languages. However, I'll explain what we're doing in our office, because we're moving towards this proactive disclosure or open government type of initiative within our own office.

Information & Ethics committee  In terms of...?

Information & Ethics committee  Okay. In access to information, there is a provision in the act itself for the protection of personal information, so that's always considered. In fact, it's one of the exemptions that's used the most in terms of disclosing only part of the information. In terms of releasing data sets, yes, I think there would need to be privacy impact assessments, but then again, I would urge you to speak to the Privacy Commissioner in that respect.

Information & Ethics committee  I have some knowledge. I will admit that I did not look at the legislation in detail. I just did not have the time to look at that, and I didn't before this committee. I apologize. I have it in my book, but I didn't have a chance to study it. One thing that I think we should really look at, because it's a federal system, is that the information commissioner there has order-making power.

Information & Ethics committee  I invite you to speak to the Treasury Board Secretariat about the Mexican system. The legislation is their own legislation. It functions in their own environment. Obviously, most people in Mexico don't have access to the Internet and so on, so there are all sorts of issues around the Mexican system.

Information & Ethics committee  As far as I know, it's not the information that was provided. There are privacy concerns there in terms of posting the whole thing and there are official languages issues, so I think that needs to be looked at in more detail. Essentially what we have in the legislation now is that you can have a reading room, right?

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, as you know, I have no power of order. There is no investigation regarding this matter or the Treasury Board Secretariat. One of the witnesses suggested to you was the person in charge of information technology for the federal government. This is a person to whom you could put that question.

Information & Ethics committee  This is the second time I've been asked this question, Mr. Chair. I guess I will have to make a choice. I haven't travelled to Australia or the U.K. I've had more contact with the Americans, because they came to see us, and they came to explain what they're doing. I really like the Australian approach.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, as I said earlier, it seems that, as far as the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is concerned, over the past few months there was an initiative for a government portal, access to government data, in the context of disclosing requests for access to information. Likewise, we also feel that they are really opening up.

Information & Ethics committee  I haven't read Mr. Savoie's book yet.

Information & Ethics committee  I have 2,100 complaints, give or take a few, at this point. So far this year, I've received about 1,100. It's high. I am concerned this year because it's still high. We're going back to levels of two years ago. Last year we had about 1,600, which means that it's difficult for us to manage our entire inventory.

Information & Ethics committee  The minister, or the head of any agency, is the person responsible under the legislation, and that authority is delegated within institutions.

Information & Ethics committee  That's a good question, Mr. Chair. It is in part the subject of a case that's before the Supreme Court of Canada. We will have a decision hopefully some time in the next few months. The hearing was in September.