Information & Ethics Committee on Nov. 8th, 2006

Evidence of meeting #16 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chairman.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Main Estimates 2007-2008: Vote 45 (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada) under JUSTICE

Study on issues related to the alleged disclosure of the names of Access to Information applicants

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Jennifer Stoddart Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Wayne Watson Director General, Investigation and Inquiries Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Tom Pulcine Director General, Corporate Services and Comptroller, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB

In terms of personal anecdotal reference points, ten years ago I was CEO of an NGO with a budget of about $4 million, and we had about ninety employees. I see here that you're planning to spend $16.5 million next year, plus another couple of million in costs received, without charge, for 143 employees. That's about $81,000 per employee. We're talking about $10 million in salaries and benefits for 124 staff in the current year, and that's $81,000.

I have a hard time understanding why that's necessary to handle a caseload of 1,600 files and to do some education. I just don't understand the empire-building that appears to be going on here in moving, from 2005 to 2007, from 80 to 143 employees.

4:50 p.m.

Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Jennifer Stoddart

Mr. Chairman, perhaps I could remind the honourable member that we have a mandate that is multifaceted. We don't just do investigations. Investigations are perhaps the one single most important line item, but we do audits and reviews. We evaluate privacy impact assessments for the various departments and organizations in the federal government. We do research. We do public education. We have a website now that has a million visits a year, which is up sharply from what it was a couple of years ago. We cooperate internationally because of the increasing acuity of the issues of Canadians' data flowing across borders and increasingly being beyond their control. We litigate cases before the Federal Court.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB

Madam Commissioner, I gather that all of those statutory functions existed eighteen months ago, when you were operating with 80 employees. Why do you need an additional 63 employees and an additional $7 million to do the same functions?

4:50 p.m.

Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Jennifer Stoddart

Perhaps I could refer the honourable member to the beginning of the report on plans and priorities, where we put forth the case of the urgent need for increased funds in the face of the advances in privacy technology, in the face of the threats to Canadians because of increasingly privacy-invasive practices; because of the need to inform Canadians of their privacy rights, and because of the need to help the federal government develop privacy-respectful practices in dealing with citizens' information. All that is resumed here, and all that was put before the parliamentary panel last year in some detail.

4:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Tom Wappel

You're already a minute and a half over.

Committee members, as your chair—don't shoot the messenger—I would remind you that we have three people on the list for the third round. That would be approximately 15 minutes, which would take us to about 5:10.

There was some hope amongst committee members that we might be able to finish the review and, indeed, conclude the report upon which we have been working. If this committee decides that it wants to report anything specific on any of the estimates that we've heard, we have to do that today, because it has to be in by the 10th, or it's automatically deemed to have been reported back as accepted if we choose to do nothing.

I'm just reminding you of all that, given that we have only 35 minutes left. Right now, as far as I'm concerned, we can go until 5:30—put up your hand if you want to—but I'm just bringing to your attention what it was hoped that we might be able to accomplish.

So we have Mr. Peterson, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Tilson.

4:50 p.m.

Liberal

Jim Peterson Liberal Willowdale, ON

Mr. Watson, you said the biggest offender in terms of complaints was the RCMP. Could you give me an example of what type of precise complaint there would be against the RCMP?

4:50 p.m.

Director General, Investigation and Inquiries Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Wayne Watson

Well, it's not only the RCMP, but the other federal departments. The biggest complaint is the time it takes for them to respond within time limits for requests for access, to requests for—