Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank the panel of witnesses for their submission and the expertise they bring to the table.
As the chair has noted, these recommendations are continuously referred to as “quick fixes”. My worry is that what we're proposing—and it's clear that this is what we're proposing—is an attempt to temporarily solve what is a real issue and a real problem, a problem that goes to the very principles of our democratic system: the transparency of government.
Some of the other terminology that's been used by witnesses before the committee when referring to our access to information system as it currently is includes calling it ineffective, an embarrassment. The access to information ombudsman for New Brunswick stated that the very officials who are to help expedite have evolved into a very different role when it comes to access to information: they've become gatekeepers.
We hear constant reference to the fact that members of Parliament, elected officials acting on behalf of the electorate, are amber-lighted. The commissioner himself has said that this whole section has a “culture of non-disclosure”, the exact opposite of what we're looking to achieve. In an interview on February 9, he even pointed a finger; he said, “My understanding is there is a stranglehold in the centre on communications”, referring to the PCO.
My worry is that we'll put these proposals forward but we are really not addressing the fundamental issue here: that this system is currently dysfunctional. It's actually doing the opposite of what was intended a quarter century ago when it was enacted.
I thank you for the expertise you've brought on each one of these quick fixes, but I'm more interested in your preamble. In your preamble you noted that this is quasi-constitutional. It actually zeros in on a fundamental principle. In fact, a very different regime has come into power in the United States, with a very different approach from that of the previous regime. President Barack Obama—you quoted him in your preamble—stated that “A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.” And then, referring to their legislation, he goes on: “In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act...which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open government.”
Do you see these quick fixes as demonstrating, on our behalf, a profound commitment to this fundamental principle of ensuring that our government here in Canada is an open government as well?