Evidence of meeting #3 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 work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
There are the two salary resources to oversee the function.
Conservative
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
We suspect that it will probably be three a year.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Three audits a year. So it works out to something in the neighbourhood of....
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
That would be $150,000.
February 11th, 2009 / 5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, $150,000 per audit, just doing the math. No, I'm sorry, it's about $110,000.
Conservative
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, $110,000 to $115,000 per audit.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
All right. Based on your knowledge of the subject, would that accord with the cost across government of carrying out an internal audit?
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The model that we applied in respect to the business case and the resources required was given to us by the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Comptroller General's office—
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
So in terms of doing the calculations, it was quite a straightforward calculation. You just took what the template said for an organization this size, indicating what was expected of you. This is what you're expected to have in terms of an audit committee and the costs associated with the audit committee, and this is what is expected of you from the audits.
So to respond to your question, it was a model that the Office of the Comptroller General and the Treasury Board Secretariat presumably felt was the best practice—
Conservative
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, as it applies across the public service.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Okay, great, excellent.
How have you found the function so far of the Accountability Act. Has it been a functional document to deal with?
We hear a lot of public criticism of it, that it's bogged people down with regulation, and so on. I don't accept that criticism, but what are your views? How has it affected the operation of the Privacy Commissioner's office?
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I'm sure the Privacy Commissioner would be very supportive of the concept of the extension of the Access to Information Act, as well as the Privacy Act. From that perspective, it's a very positive sign. Likewise with the internal audit, which I think been received quite positively.
So the elements that touch the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, I think, are being perceived quite positively.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
You don't feel as a public servant that you've been encumbered in your capacity to do your job by the provisions in the Accountability Act?
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
No, no.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Great, and that's the response I hear from most people.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
This is one of the better reviews I can remember in 15 years of supplementary estimates. I think you did a very good job in giving us opportunities to educate ourselves. I think we have nine new members on this committee out of the 11.
I think there's a comfort level, and we do have our scheduled meetings with all three commissioners, when we return after our break week, to build on the dialogue that we've had here. I think it's been very helpful and I appreciate....
Yes, Mr. Poilievre.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
The witnesses agreed to share with us in writing the information for the questions that they didn't have answers for on the spot. Would it be possible to get your agreement to perhaps send us a letter in the foreseeable future with some of those answers?
Director General and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Sure. I think we can work with the clerk to ensure that we respond to all the different--
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
Sure. That would be helpful.
This is what I'd like to do while there's not a lot of disruption and now that we've basically done our due diligence, as it were, on the supplementary estimates (B). There are a couple of routine motions that each committee must address. There are two questions. The first one is, shall vote 45b carry? That is, shall the appropriation of the $3,071,000 be appropriated under supplementary estimates (B)?
JUSTICE
Ministry Summary
Vote 45b--Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada – Program expenditures..........$3,071,389
(Vote 45b agreed to)