Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chairman, with your indulgence, I don't think I should speculate on whether it's punitive or deliberate.

Information & Ethics committee  I know of no other situation in the past. I know of one situation when a commissioner asked for x and the panel said no, it's x minus y, and that was recommended to Treasury Board. But I don't know of a case in which an agent of Parliament went through the challenge function of T

Information & Ethics committee  I need to correct that, Mr. Chairman. I sit at the pleasure of Parliament. To remove me, you need a resolution of the Senate and of the House of Commons. So unlike other officers who serve at pleasure, I have a certain comfort about being disliked. No, I will only respond as I r

Information & Ethics committee  I have to say, sir, I think that accountability and responsibility lie with the executive, not with the--

Information & Ethics committee  I didn't say that. I said that the responsibility for costing this out lies with the executive. It has to be an executive initiative, because the financial initiative of the crown is tied to any future bill. I've said that in prior testimony. I'm accountable for the moneys that

Information & Ethics committee  It's $1,425.04. In prior testimony, it works out to one Timmy's double-double per Canadian for the total cost of the program.

Information & Ethics committee  The background to the legislative recommendations or legislative change that I put before the committee flows from a long debate in this committee, going back to 2003, I believe. My predecessor tabled draft legislation at that time. One of the concerns that was expressed by bot

Information & Ethics committee  I would say it's not customary, no, and this is really not a last-minute request. We spent a whole year working on the A-base review in tandem with Treasury Board Secretariat. We initially wanted to include it as part of the main estimates. At the Treasury Board Secretariat's sug

Information & Ethics committee  All I can say is that this component—the mains plus these supplementaries, if granted.... I manage the act that I have, not the act that I want or the act that I propose we should have. All of this is predicated exactly on the statute as it is. As to costing of some of the reco

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the honourable member's indulgence about cabinet confidence, and I might say parenthetically that it's a highly uncomfortable position for an information commissioner to say he can't answer a question.

Information & Ethics committee  There is a question of cabinet confidences with respect to how these submissions are treated. Without violating any of that, I can say that I was given no reason. Based on discussions I had before it went to Treasury Board, I have an idea of what the reasons might have been. But

Information & Ethics committee  I refer you to my recommendations about cabinet confidences as a solution, maybe—close parentheses. I said in my opening remarks that it's not just about the money; it's about mandate. I'm going to have to pursue that, and I intend to pursue it pretty aggressively. I don't think

Information & Ethics committee  The advocacy side was a very small part of it, actually. It was one FTE, essentially someone to track trends that we need to address, places we need to be internationally and nationally, what buttons to push and when, drafting speeches, and that sort of thing. The systemic issue

Information & Ethics committee  It's hard for me to say if that's a fair assumption. I would say that it is an assumption that warrants consideration. When the act was changed and broadened, we got a large increase in complaints. It has now flatlined. Going forward, as part of our A-base, we're estimating 2,000

Information & Ethics committee  It's hard for me to answer that question, since I'm on this side of the fence. When public servants are asked to do more with less, I suspect that it cuts right across the board. This legislation can't be suspended—it's there. It's difficult for me to say what impact this would h