Information & Ethics Committee on June 19th, 2007

[Francine Archambault]

Based on the subject matter of the request, I identify which division is responsible. I use my knowledge of the department—after being there for 30 years—in some cases. In other cases, with reorganizations happening and things like that, I consult our phone book, different databases, or websites to identify them. Ultimately, if I'm not sure I go to the assistant deputy ministers—not them personally but their assistants—and ask if this is part of their responsibility. Then I identify who it belongs to and send the request to them.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Thank you.

Thanks again to all four of you for coming here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Tom Wappel]

Thank you, Mr. Dhaliwal.

Madame Lavallée, s'il vous plaît.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

First of all, I want to thank you very much for joining us. It is a great pleasure to meet you and to put questions to you directly. By the way, I know that it is not easy coming here and testifying, but please be assured that we always treat our witnesses with the utmost respect. I have some questions for you, in the hopes that you can shed more light on the subject and add to the information I already have.

I assume all of you have seen the chronology of events surrounding the request submitted by Amir Attaran. It is not signed, but we believe it was prepared by Ms. Sabourin, because she was the one who received the request. If you refer to the entry of February 16, 2007, you will see that there is a reference to one Serge Lebel. To whom does this individual report? Does he perhaps report to you, Ms. Nixon?

[Jennifer Nixon]

He works in our office.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Does he report to you?

[Jennifer Nixon]

No.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Does he report to one of you?

[Jennifer Nixon]

No. He's one of our systems analysts.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

According to the chronology, Serge Lebel flagged the request with a MINA ALERT in the tracking system. As I understand it, MINA means “minister's office”. Is that correct?

[Jennifer Nixon]

The minister's office flags the request when they want to see the release package.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

According to the translation, the minister's office decides how the request will be processed. Is that in fact what you said?

[Jennifer Nixon]

That's not correct.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Could you repeat it for me in English, so that the interpreter can provide a proper translation. They are efficient, but we ask a great deal of them. I want to make sure that there is no ambiguity whatsoever where this matter is concerned.

[Jennifer Nixon]

The minister's office receives a report of all the requests that are received in the office and decides which ones it wants to see the release packages of when they're ready to go out to the requesters.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

So then, on February 13, Ms. Hiseler sent the list of new access to information requests to Mary Ann Strik in the Minister's office. Subsequently, one Josée Lessard phoned — I am assuming she phoned, because it does not say she sent an e-mail— to ask to see the proposed release package. Serge Lebel from the Access to Information Division tagged the request with a MINA ALERT in the tracking system, meaning that the Minister's office wanted to see the proposed release package. Is that correct?

[Jennifer Nixon]

Yes.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I assume that a MINA ALERT means that access to information requests are contained in a shared computer file that each one of you can access. So then, for example you can type “current access to information requests” and you will see that a file is flagged with a MINA ALERT.

Does that mean that each time you open a computer file, you will find that it has been flagged in this manner. Is that how it works?

[Jennifer Nixon]

Not necessarily—that's not the process.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

How is it that Serge Lebel can flag a file with a MINA ALERT? Who sees this?

[Jennifer Nixon]

It's indicated in our electronic tracking system on the particular file when you open the file.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

That is what I meant. Perhaps I did not use the correct terms, but that is what I meant.

Are many files flagged in this manner? What percentage of all access to information requests are flagged this way?

[The Chair, Liberal, Tom Wappel]

Over what period of time, Ms. Lavallée?

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Can I just ask the witness to answer this one last question?

[Jennifer Nixon]

I'm not sure of the exact percentage.