Evidence of meeting #26 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was terms.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
You also mentioned the people around you, the members of your team. How many people do you have on your team, and how many permanent and contract positions are their in your service?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
Currently on staff there are 27 individuals. I have one casual....
Pardon me. I have one casual employee and one contract employee.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
On average, how long do employees stay working for you? Is the turnover rate high in your office? Do you think it is acceptable?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
There is no one working on investigations and policies. In terms of registration, a few people have received promotions outside the organization.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
What type of training would someone need to apply for a position in your office? Clearly, candidates need specific training, and security investigations are done. What type of employee are you looking for, what type of experience would a candidate need to apply for a job in your office?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
In terms of operations, we look for people who know how to interpret the act, who can communicate well verbally and in writing, who can speak both languages and who are comfortable doing so.
As for investigations, given the sensitive and complicated nature of this field, we look for people who have already worked on a variety of investigations, who can analyze and manage information, and who can prepare comprehensive reports. Basically, these employees make recommendations that I use to make decisions.
They must also have very strong interpersonal skills, because they are required to interact with people from Parliament as well as people at various levels.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
According to what you said, you require people to be bilingual, as far as operations go. Is that right?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
I talked about operations, but that affects people assigned to the lobbyists registry.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
One of the requirements is that those people have to be bilingual. Fine. Thank you.
You have until June 30 to submit the 2008-2009 annual report. Can you tell us whether the report will indeed be tabled by then?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
Yes, we have made every effort to ensure that the report is issued on time.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
For the past year, you have been in an acting position. Because of that, have you decided to hold off on certain projects until your status changes?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
No. I have always acted as if I were really the commissioner. I have taken my work seriously, and I have never put anything off because I was in an acting position.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
If you had to set one or two priorities for the next year of your mandate, what would they be?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
I have three or four years' experience in administering the registration regime. Since it is our main tool for ensuring that the process is transparent, I will continue to work on it. Specifically, I want to make it possible for lobbyists to make their own changes to the monthly communication return, correcting an incorrect title, for example. As things stand now, if a lobbyist wants something changed, he or she has to ask us to do it.
As for education, I would like to finalize our strategic plan so that we can make parliamentarians and Canadians aware of how important the requirements, and the whys and wherefores of the act are.
Finally, with respect to investigations and administrative reviews, I want to improve our process and case management systems.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I would like to know, on average, how long you spend on your investigations?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
To be honest, it is very hard to say. It really depends on the complexity of the case and the availability of the people we need to meet with for information.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Okay.
How many investigations have you completed in the past year?
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
I do not know the exact number. Six investigations are in the process of being finalized.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
But I would imagine that you would include that in your next report.
Proposed appointee for the position of Commissioner of Lobbying, As an Individual
Yes.
Bloc
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Thank you, Chair.
Congratulations on your nomination, Ms. Shepherd. I know you'll take to the position the same enthusiasm that you had as acting commissioner.
Chair, maybe this is a question for you. I wanted to be clear about this committee's role in the process of confirmation. I understand there has to be a resolution before the House and the Senate, since this is an officer of Parliament. Does that resolution come from this committee or does that start through some other process?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
No, the committee's involvement is to consider and to make its observation or recommendation with regard to supporting the nomination.
NDP