Good evening, joint chairs and members of the committee.
Thank you for inviting the Privy Council Office, PCO, to discuss the translation of evidence from the Public Order Emergency Commission.
My name is Matthew Shea. I am the assistant secretary to the cabinet for ministerial services and corporate affairs at PCO. As mentioned, I am joined by my colleague Alexandra Freeland, who is in charge of our information management services at PCO.
The Public Order Emergency Commission was established by an order in council on April 25, 2022, to conduct an independent public inquiry in accordance with the Emergencies Act.
PCO is currently the custodian of the commission’s official records, as they existed at the conclusion of the commission’s mandate on March 31, 2023.
We are maintaining the commission’s website for at least one year and are coordinating with Library and Archives Canada to transfer the commission’s records for preservation.
I understand the committee's interest in these records as part of its important role under the Emergencies Act. We are committed to supporting this committee. I am here today to discuss the complexity of the issue and our interest and willingness in finding a solution that would best support this committee's work.
During its operations, the commission communicated with and provided services to the public in both official languages.
The commission produced a final report of more than 2,000 pages, available in both official languages. It summarizes the documents, interviews and evidence that the commission examined during its investigation. The majority of the information created by the commission was disseminated on its website, and it is also available in both official languages.
The commission’s approach was consistent with other commissions' approaches and with that required by federal courts under part III of the Official Languages Act, where evidence can be filed in either official language.
We have provided the committee with two tables summarizing the number of files we received from the commission. However, we recognize that an itemized list of documents may be more helpful to this committee. Since that time, we have created a working copy of the commission's collection for analysis, and have been able to get a more accurate count of the total number of files. We can prepare itemized lists for certain categories of documents, such as the evidence submitted by the Government of Canada, as well as the evidence published on the commission's website, if the committee believes this would be helpful for its important work.
PCO would be happy to continue working with the committee to identify sets of documents that could be submitted for translation in phases.
We are committed to respecting Canada’s official languages and to providing committee members with information to support their work.
Chairs, committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you again today. I look forward to answering your questions, alongside my colleagues from Public Services and Procurement Canada.