It is 3:30 and I will call the meeting to order. I want to extend to everyone a warm welcome. Bienvenue à tous.
This afternoon, this meeting of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has been called pursuant to the Standing Orders. We are dealing with the follow-up on the Information Commissioner's report card.
We are pleased to have with us today, from the Department of the Environment, Mr. Bob Hamilton, associate deputy minister. He is accompanied by Mr. Pierre Bernier, director general of the corporate secretariat, and Shelley Emmerson, the manager for access to information and privacy.
The committee has allocated an hour and a half to this particular issue. Let me say a few words in opening, on behalf of the committee.
As I indicated, this is a follow-up to the report tabled by the Information Commissioner of Canada, which was entitled “Out of Time, 2008-2009 Report Cards, Systemic Issues Affecting Access to Information in Canada”.
The report, which was very extensive, very lengthy, and very comprehensive, graded various departments within the Government of Canada as to their compliance with the Access to Information Act. The report unfortunately identifies a number of systemic problems with various departments, which are basically failing Canadians in providing timely information in accordance with the legislation.
According to the report of the Information Commissioner, the reasons for this failure include, among other things, lack of leadership, inappropriate use of time extensions, time-consuming consultations, insufficient resources, deficiencies in record management, and the whole issue regarding insufficient or improper delegation.
The Information Commissioner in this report graded all 24 federal departments. Five departments received a rating of 1 out of 5, or an F grade. Those departments were Natural Resources Canada, CIDA, Correctional Services Canada, Canadian Heritage, and the Department of the Environment.
Unfortunately, the Department of Foreign Affairs received a rate of zero, which the commissioner classified as a red alert rating.
The committee considers this a very serious issue. As a result, it decided to call before it both officials from the Department of the Environment and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, who will be appearing next week.
We're pleased that the associate deputy minister is here. We're pleased that the other officials are here. We're going to now ask for opening remarks.
The floor is yours, Mr. Hamilton.