Information & Ethics Committee on May 3rd, 2016

[Mary Dawson]

The legislation leaves room for a bit of interpretation. I know that from time to time one has considered putting forward a limit of $50, for example, or something where you don't have to worry if it's under that. I proposed that to the procedures committee at one point saying if they really hate these gift rules, they should do something about it if they want to. The trouble is you can't say this is the rule and this is what we're abiding by, and then complain about it when you have to abide by it.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

I don't want to get too fixated on gifts themselves.

[Mary Dawson]

Okay. Anyway, that's a problem area.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

The concerns I've heard from members are more general and go beyond these fine lines around trivial items. That's more where I wanted to make sure we identify whether it's a matter of resources or other issues that have generally caused members frustration around getting clear answers to questions that come up.

[Mary Dawson]

We are extremely good at answering questions very quickly. Maybe they're not getting the answers they want to hear. But we do not delay getting answers out, and we've got the resources.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

In the interest of—I know you're on a budget here for time, we'll—

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

Mr. Blaikie, please, you have up to seven minutes.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

I'll pick up on that briefly without belabouring the point. From some of the concerns I've heard, where the issue we're talking about today about resources and the nature of the answers come into play, or where they interact, some MPs feel if they're going to make a request to get clarity on whether a gift is appropriate or not and the answer that comes back is it may or may not be, it depends on the circumstances, I think a lot of MPs feel they already knew that. They would like your office to be a place where they can get that clarity and the answer that comes back often just repeats the vagueness that was the trigger for the request in the first place.

[Mary Dawson]

I wonder if they had a specific instance in mind when they came. The problem is we can't give a generic answer. But if they ask if they can accept a chesterfield from so-and-so lobbying firm, we'll give them an answer. It's the specificity of the questions that we need as well in order to answer.

With respect to the resources, we have enough resources. It's not a resources problem, it seems to be a perception problem somewhere.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Okay.

One of the discussions we had earlier with the Privacy Commissioner was around some of the internal services items, being able to share those costs with other offices. Do you engage in a lot of sharing with other offices for some of those basic things?

[Mary Dawson]

We've mentioned we have contracts with various entities that will supply services for us. We're part of Parliament and the other offices are not. We've got a different structure, so there's not an obvious person for us to share services with.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

With the new government there's been a lot of talk about setting a higher standard and higher bar when it comes to accountability, openness, and transparency. Are you anticipating any changes to your mandate that might require changes to the level of resources?

[Mary Dawson]

There was a five-year review of my act, almost five years ago now. I made a number of proposals and none of them have been met under the act. Interestingly under the code, which is not your mandate here, a whole bunch of amendments were made in June as a result, which I was very pleased with.

With respect to the act, there were hearings, a report was made, and no action has been taken.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Has anyone from the new government been in touch with you to indicate there might be action now, or something coming in—

[Mary Dawson]

Not to date.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Okay. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

Thank you very much.

We'll go now to Mr. Massé, please, for up to seven minutes.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Hello, Madam Commissioner. Thank you for being here again today. It is greatly appreciated.

In your opening remarks, you mentioned a number of vacant positions in your organization. I would like to hear more about this.

How many vacant positions are there and which sectors are they in? How do you determine whether these positions are necessary? Perhaps a review of your organization is in order to ensure that it can adapt to a changing environment.

[Mary Dawson]

There are currently only two vacant positions. We are in the process of determining whether they are necessary.

Ms. Benoit, would you like to add anything?

[Denise Benoit]

As the commissioner said, there are only two vacant positions right now. We have combined the roles of these two positions with those of an existing position because they were similar and the two roles could be combined into a single position.

In another case, we have someone on an acting basis. We are currently determining what the level of the position should be. The commissioner's approach is that a position is not automatically filled when it becomes vacant. We are reviewing the need for the position in question and looking for a more efficient or different way of performing the roles.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

How many indeterminate and term or casual positions are there? You said you have used a few term positions to respond to certain files, as has been the case in recent months. How many indeterminate and term positions do you have?

[Mary Dawson]

Nearly all of our positions are indeterminate.

Ms. Robinson-Dalpé, do we still have term positions?

[Lyne Robinson-Dalpé, Director, Advisory and Compliance, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner]

There used to be three term positions in the advisory and compliance division, but the people left and the positions became vacant. Employees have since been appointed to these positions.

Managing a large workload is always a challenge for a small organization. We hope the plan we have implemented will allow us to achieve these objectives. Some good candidates have joined our team, but there were not enough candidates on the list, unfortunately. That is why we launched another competition to recruit additional resources for a certain period.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

My next question will be more general.

What are your priorities for the coming year or two? How will you measure your progress on these priorities?

[Mary Dawson]

We continually strive to improve the services we offer clients. This is a priority. We also constantly strive to improve how we communicate with members and public office holders. Those are our key priorities.