Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for the invitation to describe the framework that Shared Services Canada has put in place to comply with the Access to Information Act. We are pleased to be joining you this morning.
My name is Monique McCulloch, and I am the director of the access to information and privacy protection division, which is within the corporate services branch at Shared Services Canada. I act as the coordinator for the whole department and am responsible for administering all ATIP, legislative, and policy obligations.
Mr. Chair, before describing the access to information framework, I would like to provide some context on the mandate of Shared Services Canada.
Shared Services Canada was created to modernize information technology infrastructure services to ensure a secure and reliable platform for the delivery of digital services to Canadians.
The department aims to deliver one email system, consolidated data centres, reliable and secure telecommunications networks, and non-stop protection against cyber threats.
Shared Services Canada currently provides information technology infrastructure services across 43 departments, 50 networks, 485 data centres, and 23,000 servers. For fiscal year 2014-15, while still growing its capacity, the ATIP office employed six full-time employees and one casual employee, as well as one consultant, to carry out the Access to Information Act business. Shared Services Canada spent just over $785,000 to administer the Access to Information Act portion of the ATIP program.
Since its creation in August, 2011, Shared Services Canada has put in place a framework anchored by internal policies, instructions, and training that identifies the procedures and processes for handling requests for information under the act. Specifically, the ATIP division introduced an ATIP management framework that sets out a comprehensive governance and accountability structure. This reflects Shared Services Canada’s responsibilities under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act with respect to access rights and with regard to the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and disposal of personal information.
The ATIP division is responsible for developing, coordinating, implementing, and monitoring compliance with effective ATIP-related policies, guidelines, systems, and procedures across Shared Services Canada. This enables the department to meet the requirements and to fulfill its obligations under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.
In terms of the volume of work, I would now like to share some statistics from the fiscal year 2014 annual report on the Access to Information Act.
There were 362 files in total, including formal requests for records and consultations under the Access to Information Act, as well as informal requests for previously processed files. Consultations with our 43 partner organizations, as well as third-party vendors, is an important component of the ATIP work given the department’s enterprise-wide scope and significant procurement mandate. The volume of requests received was comparable to the previous reporting period. However, due to interest in records relating to procurement and cybersecurity files, the number of pages processed increased eight times to 183,023 pages processed in 2014–15, from 22,438 pages processed in 2013–14.
The Shared Services Canada ATIP division weekly tracks its turnaround times in processing requests and monitors the timeliness of their completion. Performance reports are communicated to senior management each month.
In fiscal 2014-15, all requests under the Access to Information Act were processed within the timelines permitted by the act. Overall, 63% of requests were processed in 30 days, and 37% were the subject of extensions permitted by the act. During this reporting period, only two complaints were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada on this subject. It should be noted that one of the complaints was withdrawn and that the other was determined to be unfounded.
The majority of the Access to Information Act requests processed by Shared Services Canada relate to procurement and vendor relations, cybersecurity, transformation initiatives, and briefing products to the president and minister. These access requests can be complex given the requirement for both internal and external consultations with Government of Canada customers, central agencies, and external companies and organizations.
In 2014, Shared Services Canada was also part of the initial ATIP online pilot project led by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, to facilitate and expedite Canadians' rights of access. Today, the majority ATIP requests received by the departments are made online as part of open government initiatives.
Mr. Chair, this ends my opening remarks. I would be pleased to respond to any questions the committee may have.