Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
And welcome, Mr. Marleau and Ms. Legault.
As you well know, we've been reviewing the 12 recommendations you made to our committee regarding the act you are governed by. I can't look at the estimates you have presented and look at your planned spending without keeping in mind the recommendations and perhaps the impact those recommendations might have on your budget.
I am delighted to have you here today because, before I go there on the estimates and the recommendations, I do have a couple of questions I would like to ask you with regard to the recommendations. Since your last appearance before this committee, we have heard from a number of witnesses who both support and oppose the recommendations you have made to reform the Access to Information Act.
The Minister of Justice was here before the committee last week, and he expressed concerns that recommendation 4 and recommendation 11 appear to be in conflict. He actually said,
My concern about the Information Commissioner's recommendations 4 and 11 can be boiled down to one of ease of access to justice. Under the current ombudsman model, an access requester can complain to the commissioner about a refusal of access. The commissioner is obligated to investigate, and upon the completion of the investigation, the commissioner will make a finding and a non-binding recommendation. If the requester is unhappy with the result, he or she can then go to the Federal Court.
Does the minister not have a point, that the current system would satisfy a requester who has a complaint?