In terms of access to information requests declining through more proactive disclosure, that's kind of a long-shot call on my part. But the more there is proactive disclosure on behalf of federal institutions, the more those who are looking for information are better informed when they ask for more specific information. I think it would cut down on a lot of the fishing expeditions that go on from time to time asking for a whole range of documents in order to find that pearl or that needle in the haystack.
It's also linked to the duty-to-assist provision that you've included in the statute. To make every reasonable effort to assist the requester is another dimension of the statute that I think would reduce some of the complaints I get.
On the second part of your question about what the committee can do to assist us, these new report cards we'll be tabling with Parliament, which will be referred to you in the fall, are really an effort to give you better information and leverage your interest in getting the institutions to account for their performance. They'll present you with not just delay statistics, but a context of operations and performance in that year, a response from the government institution, and hopefully an action plan. You will have that in the fall at the same time you get departmental performance reports in the supply cycle. You've been getting them early in the year and they've been focusing only on delays--it's an A or F grade, it's a one-day wonder in the media--and to some degree I don't think you're getting the whole story.
I don't want to say it's an effort to leverage the committee to get the system to move along, but it will certainly give you the information you need to hold them to account.