Evidence of meeting #15 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.
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
Professional.
Conservative
Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Okay. Thank you.
That ends my questioning. Thank you.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As a former political staffer myself, I'm well aware of working in a minister's office and the special relationship between a director of communications and the minister. Obviously we find today that the minister is here by your side; you do have a special relationship with your minister, and I commend you for having that relationship with her.
I'd like to ask a couple of questions, getting back to the 51 occasions that your office has altered responses. How many times did you alter a response, Mr. Sparrow, where you did not tell the minister that you altered the response?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I'm unaware of that figure.
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I'm unaware of that figure.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Okay. Could you tell me in general terms how often you would alter a response--51 times in the last six months--without telling the minister?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
The department receives hundreds of media inquiries...in the last six months, for instance. The minister is very busy. I act on her behalf as her director of communications. I do not inform her of every single media inquiry the department receives.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
But the question was, when you alter a response, how many times do you tell the minister that “I have altered a response that came from a bureaucrat”?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I act on the minister's behalf. I don't inform her every single time I make a decision.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Okay. On February 26, the day in question, did you speak to the minister that day?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I assume so. I don't recall, though.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Okay. So on the day that an important media request came in to your department and you were dealing with it, you didn't see fit to discuss with your minister that a response had come from a bureaucrat and that you were changing the response and giving it to the media? You did not brief your minister on February 26?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I think every media inquiry the department receives is important; we treat every one as such. And I act on behalf of the minister in my roles and responsibilities as her director of communications to make decisions on media inquiries.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
But on that particular day in question, you said you spoke with your minister, but you did not advise her of this particular--
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I did not. No.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
I would like to ask another question. You said in your response: “...we have provided you with all the information available at this” time. And that was your official response: all the information available at that time. Do you feel that is not actually accurate in what it was, because you did have other information available?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
We did not have actual costs or the frequency of the ads. That was the media inquiry and we did not have that information at the time. No.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
But you said you provided “all the information...”, and the previous e-mail says, “...I want used no figures”. For a communications director, that's not grammatically correct, but we know exactly what you wanted. You didn't want to use any figures. Is that correct?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I wanted to provide accurate figures,and there were no accurate figures available at the time.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
No, you didn't say “I want to use accurate figures”. You said, “...I want used no figures”.
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
As I previously stated, I spoke to the assistant deputy minister responsible for communications. I informed him of my decision and the rationale, and it was agreed upon that that was what we were going to, that was his decision going forward.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Don't you feel that wasn't a fair and accurate response in being open and accountable?
Director of Communications, Office of the Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I disagree. We provided an accurate response with accurate figures in a timely manner.
