The member asked about the difference between exclusions and exemptions and exceptions. They all start with the letter e and are all very confusing.
But in the Access to Information Act, an exclusion would mean that the act does not apply to the situation or the group of documents under consideration. That's what section 68.1 purported to do. It purported to create an exclusion.
Then at the end of it, it created an exception to that exclusion because it said, “other than information that relates to its general administration”. So there was an exclusion, and then there was an exception to the exclusion, and that's what led to the controversy and the confusion.
When the Information Commissioner testified, she recommended—and I found her exact words in appendix A of your report—with respect to the CBC, that you replace both the exclusion and the exception to the exclusion with a discretionary-based exemption. The words she chose are as follows:
The head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice the journalistic, creative or programming independence of the Corporation.
If you check that recommendation of the Information Commissioner, which this committee accepted, against the words that I've used in my private member's bill, they are almost identical.
The exclusion means that the act doesn't apply except in certain circumstances, which was the confusion in section 68.1. But all of that is to be replaced by a discretionary exemption, so the act applies. The Information Commissioner can review the situation to determine if there is going to be prejudice, and if there is prejudice then she'll recommend non-disclosure.