Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
The reason we're having this study is that most of us around this table were horrified to learn that the name of a journalist was revealed in the context of an access to information request. This has not been common knowledge amongst most MPs I know, so we were horrified and shocked to learn through your testimony, and in fact through testimony of the Treasury Board and the Information Commissioner, that it is in fact commonplace for the minister, or at least departmental heads, to find out who is asking the question. In fact, it's a matter of course, it would seem, that the first thing that happens when a difficult or nuisance complaint comes forward is that the minister's office demands who's asking. This is shocking to me. If the right to know is quasi-constitutional in its importance, then your constitutional rights are being systematically violated in a widespread way.
I guess our first interest in having this study was, is it in fact happening? I think we're satisfied, from what we've heard, that it is happening. We wanted to know how frequently and how common it's happening, and that's being answered. We wanted to know if it was happening in the previous government as well as the current regime. In fact, Ken has pointed out that it's been widespread, back as far as we can remember.
I guess the question I have—and I'm learning something every day, and I'm more disappointed and shocked every day I learn about this—is on what Ken has brought to the table now, that not only are they asking to know the name of who applied, but they're also getting a detailed profile of the type of person--that is, what is the level of threat this person's question may pose to the government?
Can you expand on how often we've seen this profiling? Or is it a new revelation that it's not only the name, but also what the person does, what type of questions they ask, and what causes they've been associated with in the past? That's what's worrisome to me, and it adds a whole other element to this. I think it's an absolute bombshell that they're not only asking for the identity, which I think undermines the integrity of the whole system, but they're also asking for confidential personal information.
Is this not a Privacy Act offence?