Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Madame Legault, for being here. I was very heartened to listen to your discourse this morning, particularly your words in terms of the “crucial role” of defending the public interest, of ensuring accessibility and transparency: that it really is a cornerstone of accountable government. I want to commend your work as a commissioner in ensuring that there is accountability for the people of Canada, because without that accountability there is no ability to say that we are truly democratic.
I preface these remarks because this week we learned of a SLAPP suit that was brought against three civic organizations: Newspapers Canada, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, which asked our committee to look into the Access to Information Act and the possible failings of the information act after the RCMP failed to follow up on the case of Sébastien Togneri and his complicity in obstructing information requests. Now, I find this attempt to use legal SLAPP suits to tell citizens that they can't come to our committee, or to try to obstruct citizens from looking to a parliamentary committee to investigate something that's clearly a cornerstone of democracy, to be outrageous and a possible serious breach of our privilege as parliamentarians.
But I also want to comment on the fact that Mr. Togneri made a number of comments publicly about your work, wherein he accused you of “grandstanding” for the sake of publicity. He said he hoped that in the future your office will demonstrate a little bit of caution and understand the consequences of “grandstanding against a political staffer”. I mean, who is this guy? I have to ask you. These are serious allegations to make against someone in your position. What do you think of the kind of public attack Mr. Togneri has waged against your work and against the work of citizens' groups that are trying to get accountable government?