Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the Deputy Minister and the Environment Canada officials for appearing today and for presenting their brief.
On page 2 of the brief, you state the following: “Environment Canada is strongly committed to access to information and its principles of openness, transparency and accountability.” I want to focus on the words “transparency” and “accountability.” Those two words are emphasized. You have principles and you ensure that they are met.
Section 72 of the Access to Information Act states the following:
The head of every government institution shall prepare for submission to Parliament an annual report on the administration of this Act within the institution [...]
It seems that Environment Canada doesn't publish online its annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act.
Do you think that, despite failing to post the report on your website, you are meeting the transparency and accountability principles? Wouldn't publishing the report be the least you could do? First, I want to know whether you have published the report online. If not, do you intend to do so?