I have received this letter, and my first thought on reading it is that it is not clear that Mr. Edwards is the deputy minister. His title is not given, in fact. The letter seems to indicate political interference at Foreign Affairs. I wonder why he does not want to let his employees come to meet us if he has nothing to hide, if everything is transparent. Why does he not let Foreign Affairs' employees, team leaders and department heads, come to provide explanations? He thinks that we will ask them how they administer the Access to Information Act. No, we are just going to ask them to tell us what happened. There is a sequence of events here, a chronology. I do not know who wrote the letter, but I imagine that it is Ms. Sabourin. We are going to ask different people for their views.
A quick reading tells me that Gary Switzer is an analyst. But it looks like Mr. Melvin Chuck is the team leader in the Access to Information and Privacy Protection Division. Mr. Melvin Chuck must be involved. If I understand Ms. Sabourin's testimony, he provided directions and recommendations, telling her how to censor the document. I feel that Melvin Chuck is one of the people we must see. As I understand it, he is the team leader in the Access to Information and Privacy Protection Division.
I think that we have done enough pussyfooting around, Mr. Chair. On a number of occasions, we have said that it would be nice to invite them, that we would love them to come, etc. We have patiently waited for Ms. Sabourin, and, after three weeks, our patience is running out. Now the deputy minister casually puts off his appearance before the committee until it fits into his plans. This behaviour, this way of responding to the committee, shows a lot of arrogance. I think that a notice to appear is essential, especially given the fact that a reading of the report shows that this is one of the worst departments—perhaps the worst—when it comes to access to information. In previous years, I have seen that the committee invited departments that were having difficulty fulfilling their access to information obligations. The committee asked them to appear in order to ask them how they intended to improve their record. I think that the least that the people whom we have invited can do is come to explain to us how they have handled the documents and how they have responded to the access to information requests made by Mr. Attaran and Mr. Esau.
We are nearing the end of the process. There is not a lot of time left either. I feel that Mr. Edwards and Ms. Sabourin show that in their responses. They think that they will wear us down, and that time will be on their side, that is, that we will run out of time to bring them here. That is what they are counting on, just like the Conservative government. They are counting on the fact that the committee will never have enough time to hear from them.
I think that we should send notices to appear next Tuesday to everyone we want to see, including the team leader Melvin Chuck, and we should tell them that the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday whether the House is sitting or not. We will meet here on Tuesday, from 9 a.m. until we have seen them all. I think that it is the least we can do, and that it must absolutely be done before the end of this session. When we have heard from them all, when they have all appeared...If the House is not sitting, the meeting can last all day, and we will find a way to make it work. We must invite them all because we have important questions to ask. No one can laugh in the face of the Access to Information Act and get away with it. Nor can anyone give people the runaround, not consumers, not members of the public asking for documents in good faith, not this committee.
By the way, at 11 a.m. this morning, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is meeting; they will be hearing from the authors of the report we are studying directly from Afghanistan by videoconference. I think the meeting is in the Centre Block. I am planning to go. It will add to the information I have at hand.
Thank you.