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.
11:25 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
--the request was complete--
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
Order.
Okay. Mr. Togneri, I think we're going to have to shorten up these answers and focus on the questions that Mr. Siksay is anxious to get at. You've repeated a couple of things a couple of times and I think we should stop the repetition.
Okay. On a point of order, Mr. Holder.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
Yes. Thank you very much, Chair.
It is my understanding that committee members have great latitude in asking our witnesses various questions. I would presume that if Mr. Siksay had a concern about how the questions were being answered, it would be incumbent upon him--versus you--to be able to bring that point forward, because you give us, as committee members, the latitude for all of these things. Presumably he has the latitude to respond, and if Mr. Siksay is not comfortable with it, I'd presume he would be the one to respond to that.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
11:25 a.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Togneri, I am concerned that you do seem to be very involved in deciding exactly what gets released, not just preparing a response for the minister to respond to information that was released, and the decision having been made by departmental ATI officials. So I am very concerned.
I'm also kind of wondering why it was any concern of yours to save the requester money and why that would even be a consideration in this. Did somebody direct you to save requesters money as part of your job?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
No, not at all. I had a conversation after I had sent this e-mail and that was brought up. I wasn't aware that, you know, ATI could work with the requester to get more specific and to do that.... But it was brought up, so....
11:30 a.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Had you done this at other times? Did you have this kind of conversation about what would be released or make suggestions about saving other clients or other requesters money on other requests that came across your desk? Was that a regular part of how you functioned?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
Sorry, your first part of your.... On the second part of your question, I had no idea about this before. I don't know how to answer the first part--
11:30 a.m.
NDP
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo
I'm sorry, Mr. Siksay. I apologize.
We have to move on to Mr. Poilievre.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Togneri, for appearing before the committee today and for offering testimony.
I'd like to start with the broader policy discussion on which this committee has focused for some time.
So let's start at the rudimentary level. Are you aware of the Federal Accountability Act?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
Yes, I am.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Okay. Are you aware of the provisions contained therein regarding the Access to Information Act?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
I'm vaguely aware, yes.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Sure. I mean, to be more specific, the Federal Accountability Act provided amendments to the Access to Information Act. Are you aware of some of those amendments?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
I'm vaguely aware, yes.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Can you tell us about your knowledge of those amendments?
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
No, I can't.
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
I'm not that well versed on the Federal Accountability Act--
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
--other than that more federal agencies are covered under the Federal Accountability Act. That's what I know the most, like Canada Post---
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Right, and in fairness, I don't want to.... This isn't a pop quiz, and if it were, you got the right answer. The Federal Accountability Act added a whole series of agencies and bodies of government that were not originally included under the Access to Information Act. Several dozen organizations are now covered by Access to Information that were not previously.
There's a broader discussion now about additional changes to the act that could be considered. The access to information commissioner has opinions. The previous commissioner, Mr. John Reid, had opinions on how the system should be amended. The Auditor General had made certain representations to the government about changes to the Access to Information Act.
I wonder, given your experience around the parliamentary system, if you have any suggestions for the committee.
11:30 a.m.
Former Parliamentary Affairs Director, Department of Public Works and Government Services, As an Individual
Not being an expert in ATI...I don't think I'm an expert to respond to that. I would think that the committee is far more experienced to make suggestions to amend it than I am. I know that ATI at Public Works worked very well. I guess that's all I have to say. I'm not exactly sure of specific changes that need to be made, but....
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
In fact, Public Works did experience tremendous improvement in the ratings of the Information Commissioner in her report card that was recently released. I don't have that report in front of me, but I will have it for my next round of questioning. Perhaps we could examine how the various departments could be making continual improvements in how they serve Canadians regarding access to information.
Tell us which ministries you have experience working in.