Information & Ethics committee  That's a very good question. I will answer as honestly as possible. I admit that I am biased. I have a lot of admiration and respect for the institution that is CBC. Considering that those people know their profession and have a level of expertise that many other institutions lac

Information & Ethics committee  Indeed, and I have a lot of time for her. I think she has done a spectacular job in a very difficult situation. When she took over there was a two-year delay of complaints. She has addressed that. I think she's hired new people. I've been very critical of her predecessor, but I w

Information & Ethics committee  You're taking words out of my mouth. Absolutely. No question there. Can she do it? She could do it now. Has she done it in the past? She has done it. She has been trusted with information, the quality and the degree of severity if leakages were to happen being far more signific

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, there was, sir. I think the covering letter said “exemption under”, and then there was a series: 19, which is personal information; 20, which is third-party information; 16 is security, and so on and so forth. There was the whole string of exemptions. And of the 1,500-some

Information & Ethics committee  I think the two questions went together. We regularly submit ATI requests to CBC for a number of clients and institutions. However, the requests we send to CBC are not all on behalf of Quebecor. We have probably sent 50, 60 or 80 requests to CBC over the last few months and over

Information & Ethics committee  I can tell you that many other organizations, such as VIA Rail, Canada Post and the National Arts Centre, and all others that became subject to the act as of September 1 received a pretty high number of requests from us pertaining to fairly similar information.

Information & Ethics committee  If you are talking about public broadcasters, I have no expertise, knowledge or special training when it comes to that. I have none. So, I am unable to answer you. If you're referring to the arts, I am not talking about public broadcasters. From memory, I can tell you that ther

Information & Ethics committee  First of all, it applies only to the CBC. I'm a great believer in traditions. We have a tradition of common law, and many of our legal systems come from the motherland. Amazingly, in the U.K., in their freedom to information act they have also found it difficult on the simple re

Information & Ethics committee  May I be honest?

Information & Ethics committee  I wouldn't earn a very good living if I had to depend upon what I receive. I have an equal number, almost, of complaints to the Office of the Information Commissioner. In reality, if I were to put on the table what it is that we actually receive, you'd be surprised. I don't think

Information & Ethics committee  Once I strip all the white pages and the redacted things, there's not very much—

Information & Ethics committee  —of substance, no.

Information & Ethics committee  I made the point, you will recall, that it's not only section 68.1; we have dealt with myriads of other exemptions, exclusions, fees, and so on. As reasonable and patient as we can be, we can only form the opinion that the purpose behind this was to deny, and if not to deny, then

Information & Ethics committee  You raise three points. Let me address them be in the reverse order. Concerning demise, you have somebody here who's a fan, an admirer, and a supporter of the CBC. I think they add considerably to the fabric of the nation. They have done so, and I hope they continue to do so. A

Information & Ethics committee  We've filed a number. It's probably in that range. I wouldn't swear to the 800.