Earlier, the parliamentary secretary made a statement that made me think about one aspect of the issue. At Foreign affairs and International trade, they seem to have the bad habit of closing flies on the basis of section 13 and section 15.
Could you tell me which institutions are used to acting in this manner? Does it mean that departmental people try to clarify in advance what in the requests they would be able to disclose or not?
I have some experience with Public Works and Government Services Canada. When we talk to the coordinators, we are usually able to agree, after a brief negotiation, on what types of information will be disclosed to us and what will not be, and the requests are thus clarified. At Foreign affairs, there seems to be a problem.
Also, I find that the system is not necessarily the same in all departments. In some, everything works well whereas, in others, it does not.
Especially at Foreign Affairs, they use section 13 relating to information obtained on a confidential basis, and section 15 relating to information from foreign governments.