Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for that clarification that the methodology in your tabulation has changed as of this fiscal year only.
The data we have here are similar in nature, so if we look at complaints against PCO in 2006-07—I did use percentages—they were 6.5%, and once again, if we exclude crown corporations, they've gone up to 11.6%. So it's a doubling. And there's a clear trend here that coincides with what I believe are new approaches to dealing with these matters.
Now, I had finished off my last round by noting that we've gone from 30 days to 60 days to 150, 250, 300 days for requests, and when people call to find out what's going on, most often the response is that it's in PCO consultation. So they're actually the gatekeepers on this information.
We also have this new innovation that they send out notes to the requesters saying that it's been such a long time—in some cases, I guess, a year—and asking if it's still of relevance, encouraging people to drop these particular cases.
Does this disturb you, the trend in terms of the number of times PCO blocks access to information citing cabinet confidences, the trend of journalists or members of Parliament giving up on the system, this new innovation and being told that it's in PCO consultation?
What do you make of it? Do you find this disturbing?