In terms of timeliness, I may not necessarily be in agreement with some requesters who may have appeared before the committee. My position is that if we had a proper discipline system within the legislation in terms of timeliness, it would address the situation much better.
We had a loosey-goosey provision in our act. There really are no strict timelines. There is no proper discipline. For instance, there are provisions on consultations where we may seek the consent of another institution, but if the institution doesn't respond, then the institution that's seized with the request just sits on it and waits. We've had many investigations that reveal that.
The problem is that if the other institution consulted doesn't respond, if a third party that's being consulted doesn't respond, then there should be a decision, and that should be provided for in the act, so that all the actors are actually aware that they must respond. They must indicate whether they consent or not to this disclosure by a certain time. It's just a question of providing specific timelines and the proper discipline in terms of timeliness in the act. This too has been discussed many times over the last 30 years.