Evidence of meeting #12 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sparrow.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
There were apparently 51 media responses where your office intervened. I think you're on record saying there were 51 media responses.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Yes, okay. Could we have a record of those, please?
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
I don't have them. I'm not sure what's available, but we'll be happy to provide whatever is legally available to you.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
That's great. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Again, it goes back to a government communication policy that you're following and that your department is following, but you say you don't know who wrote the policy. Do you know in which department the policy originated?
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
At the time when Mr. Sparrow was in discussions on this incident that involved the media and the bureaucracy, were you aware that he was in fact involved in that incident?
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
It's his normal job. Through authority delegated to him by me, he or one of his staff--for example, the press secretary--reviews every media request that comes into the department.
Liberal
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Not at the time. There would be no reason for him to do so. This was part of his daily job.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
So you were never made aware of any requests. Mr. Sparrow acts on them on his own.
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
If he believes there is reason for me to be involved, then I am made aware of them. If, for example, I am to be quoted or if I am to continue to meet with the reporter who is making the inquiry, then he advises me. But most of the requests that we receive don't require my direct involvement. They are for information, which the department provides.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
I guess my question would be, do you think it's appropriate for political staff to be dictating to the bureaucracy what can and can't be provided to the media?
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
It's a collaborative approach that's taken between the department and the minister's office staff in recognition that ultimately I, as the minister, am responsible. I am accountable for what gets said by my department, because it's done in my name. So I have representation there, and that's fully in accordance with government protocol.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
And thanks very much, Minister, for being before us this morning.
I am a bit like my colleague here, kind of wondering what we're looking at and where we're going with this. We've heard from you that there is a Government of Canada communications policy. We've heard that all of the rules have been followed, and that the policy was followed. We've heard that this was a media inquiry, not an ATIP request, which certainly has different timeframes attached to it. We've heard that you were asked for actuals, which at the point when you were asked, did not exist. We've heard that you released those actuals within three weeks of having that actual figure. It was 21 days later that information was released. We all know we've been waiting 15 years to get information on an ad campaign, and boy, the difference between 21 days and 15 years is mind-boggling. So I commend you on the way you've handled this.
We've heard you've been criticized because you know what's going out of your department, and I simply cannot understand that. If there are people sitting around this table, as elected politicians, who don't know what's going out of their offices, then they definitely are not doing their jobs. Knowing what's happening in your department I think is a good thing, so I commend you for that.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
I do have a question for you, and I was trying to write as you were speaking. In your opening remarks I believe you said that Canadians need to be aware of and know how to access the investments the government is making. If I recall correctly, the ads contained a lot of information about how Canadians could access the programs we're delivering for workers, whether they be apprentices or whether they be seasoned workers.
Did the ads make a significant difference in the uptake of these programs?
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
I do not have specific information related to the campaign for the general workers.
What we did find with the apprenticeship campaign--raising awareness of both the apprenticeship incentive grant and of the new completion grant that was brought in under the economic action plan--was that fully one in five people who noticed the ad actually took action to sign up for it. That's a huge success. Normally, if you get a 3% response you're doing exceptionally well. So this was really important.
It's very difficult to get this kind of information out to the target audience we were after, and the fact that we got such a recognition factor, but also an action rate, was very gratifying. To me, it says those tax dollars are being very well invested in making people aware of the programs.
I do know also that the awareness of the economic action plan campaign was very high. In March, the awareness rate was substantially higher than in January. The main message that Canadians were taking was that the government has programs to help those who are unemployed or whose jobs are in jeopardy. That's really good news. Things like our work-sharing program are available to protect jobs and to prevent layoffs, and that has so far helped protect the jobs of over 255,000 Canadians.
We've extended that program recently and have received a lot of accolades from industry and from the employees whose jobs have been protected. But before people can take part in that program, they need to be aware of it. That's what this ad campaign was designed to do.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Thank you, Minister.
I know from experience in my own riding that definitely people were appreciative of those ads and definitely appreciative of the program.
Just as a final remark or final question, how important do you think access to information is to the functioning of government and Parliament?
Conservative
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Access to information is very important. Accountability and transparency in government are very important. That's why the very first full bill that our government brought in was Bill C-2, and that was the Federal Accountability Act, which really changed the way government does its work and its business in making information available. It also reduces the opportunity, shall we say, for people to have undue influence on decisions. It's all part of the package of making sure Canadians are getting value for their hard-earned tax dollars by knowing what government is doing to help them and by making sure that ministers like myself take responsibility for the actions of themselves and their departments.
Access to information is one tool in this process, and we're always working, and the Prime Minister has committed that we are working, to improve our performance in that regard because it is important to us. We have shown improvements in some parts. There's still more to be done, but we are committed to making those improvements for the benefit of Canadians.
