Information & Ethics Committee on May 11th, 2010

Evidence of meeting #14 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 togneri.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Allegations of Interference in Access to Information Requests

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Sébastien Togneri Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Alysia Davies Committee Researcher

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

Mr. Togneri, you sent an email requesting that a document not be released, that it be recalled. No doubt, it was a document whose content might have been disturbing to some. So you intercepted it. In fact, you gave the order to have it intercepted. Once it was intercepted, who took possession of the document to censor it?

11:15 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I have to say.... I....

The last time I was here, I said that I made an error in judgment and that I....

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

I agree that you made an error in judgment. I am not questioning that.

11:15 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

Yes, but....

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

What I want to know is this: Who was the intercepted 132-page document given to to be censored? You sent an email to have the document intercepted. So someone intercepted it and brought it to you. If the person did not bring it to you, who did they give it to to be censored?

11:15 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I did not request that a document be censored. And....

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

No, you asked that it be intercepted. You had a document intercepted so that it would be returned to your offices. Who was the document given to?

11:15 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I do not know. I am not sure where the document went exactly.

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

Do you know who censored the document?

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I have no idea.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

You have no idea? You are admitting under oath that you have no idea what happened to the document that you requested be intercepted in order for it to be returned to the minister's office. You have no idea what happened to the document.

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I do not know.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

You are not aware of anything?

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I do not know what happened to the document.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

You did not handle the document? You did not read it, withhold it or make changes to it? You did not do anything to the document in question?

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

Thank you for your question.

Again, I do not know. The....

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

That is interesting because you did not receive any order. According to your claims, according to your testimony, you did not receive any directive to intercept the document. You intercepted it. The document came back to the minister's office. The 132-page document was censored on 32 pages. And you are not aware of anything that happened.

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

No, that is not....

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

So who gave you the order? Someone gave you the order. You made a mistake, as you said. If it were just a mistake, you would have handed over the document, you would have given it back in its original 132-page form.

Did you receive a directive to retrieve the document so that it could be censored?

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

The document was not returned to the minister's office.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

Where did it go?

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

I do not know. I imagine....

I do not know, I really do not know.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Carole Freeman Bloc Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

But, Mr. Togneri, you requested that the document be intercepted. Surely, you followed up on the document, did you not?

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Fine, thank you.

11:20 a.m.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual

Sébastien Togneri

No. I do not know where it went.