Evidence of meeting #4 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 complaints.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, they do.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
What percentage or what number of the 662 Privacy Act investigations would be related to that issue?
4:30 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
If we look at our last annual report, we received some 759 complaints under the Privacy Act in all, and 248 complaints received were against Correctional Service of Canada. That does not mean that those who made them necessarily were themselves incarcerated at the time. At one point we had a whole flux of complaints by prison guards. But there's a high correlation. So that's over a quarter; that's a third. In the last annual report, a third of complaints were against Correctional Service of Canada.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
4:30 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
That is the report for 2007-08.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
That's the number we discussed last year. Do we know if that's still an ongoing problem?
4:30 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
There is a constant phenomenon, as far back as you can see in the Privacy Act, that one of the huge users of the Privacy Act is the incarcerated population.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
I'd love to have that updated information.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
Is there any backlog with these investigations?
4:30 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, there is unfortunately a backlog. We have decided to opt for the definition of less than one year, in terms of files being backlogged, because I think it was inaccurate and possibly misleading to say they're not assigned, and if they're assigned, that doesn't mean they're going to move, and so on. So we've taken a chronological criterion. In terms of the Privacy Act, of the 633 complaints as of last week, 270 are less than a year old, and the majority—363 complaints—are over a year old.
We do have in place a strategy by which, at the end of this fiscal year, there should be only 320 complaints, and by 2010 the backlog should be eliminated in both acts. So we're on target for reduction.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
So you're saying over half of them are backlogged, are over a year old.
4:35 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes. Right now, over half of them are over a year old.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
It is a very large number. Of the many challenges that my office has dealt with in the last few years, this is the last very serious challenge that is before us. It's a challenge of great magnitude. There's a similar backlog in PIPEDA.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
How do you explain the backlog? You have more staff than you've ever had. You had 120 staff last year, and now you have 160 and lower turnover. How do you explain?
4:35 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Unfortunately, the backlog is kind of like an iceberg growing. It grows very slowly, but it grows imperceptibly over years, and once you have it, it's hard to get rid of.
The backlog grew over the last few years when there were great administrative challenges at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. For years, up until now, we have never had a full complement of investigators for various reasons. One was that we couldn't get financing for more investigators until we put our house in order, and that took several years, as you'll remember. A second was that we got the financing for new investigators, but then we were in this turnover mode largely due to the rarity of investigators as a specialized occupational group in the very specific Ottawa labour market. This was combined with the issue of retirement in a certain cohort of people.
However, this fall we have been able to hire 20 investigators as a group, and I think we have a complement of about 42 investigators. We have a whole influx of new people that are being trained in January and February and will start working mid-March. The backlog grew in the past, but I think now, with a full complement of human resources, we can go ahead in the future and attack it successfully.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
Colleagues, I allowed that to go on a little longer than I otherwise would have, but I think it is important that everyone hear about the challenges that are being faced here and why we've asked the Privacy Commissioner to keep us abreast of progress. When you have such a high turnover, you're getting a fair number of people whose productivity rates are low to start off with.
It's going to take some time, I'm sure, but we need to have the assurances that you have the resources available to you and that Treasury Board is also working collaboratively with you to make sure that you get the people you need when they're needed.
4:35 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Thank you.
February 23rd, 2009 / 4:35 p.m.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Thank you, Commissioner. This is the first time I've met you, even though you've appeared before the committee on a number of occasions.
Earlier you said, in response to a question from my colleague Ms. Freeman, that your office has no obligation to protect the data gathered by the various departments. I imagine that standards are also their responsibility.
4:35 p.m.
Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Standards, with respect to privacy and security issues, are the domain of the Treasury Board, which makes the rules. Our role is as a commentator: we file complaints, we conduct audits. From time to time, we state that there are problems in the management of personal information, but it is up to the departments and agencies to protect and manage their personal information.
4:35 p.m.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Is there currently a standard procedure with regard to standards? If they come from the department, as you say, from the Treasury Board, is there a standardization of standards laid down in the various departments?