Evidence of meeting #21 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was criminal.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dion, for being here with us today.
Your most recent report, on April 1, noted that 49 MPs from all parties are outstanding with their compliance reports. Can you speak to why that happens, how it compares with previous Parliaments and why it's important to complete this work?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I am pleased to report that, first of all, the situation is better today than it was when we published that report last week, I believe on Wednesday. The situation is getting better. We are down to less than 10 MPs who have yet to initiate the process with us. A certain number of MPs just have to sign the draft statement we have sent to them. They have 60 days to do so under the code. I don't understand it, but many MPs decide to do so on the 60th day. They could choose to do it on the first day, the second day, the third day...but it's human nature, I guess.
Many MPs have only to sign on the dotted line and it will be over. We're at over 90% in terms of real completion at this point in time. It's better than it was in 2019, much better.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Thank you.
You talked about parliamentary approval of $7.3 million in 2022-23, an increase of roughly $425,000 over the previous year's main estimates for your office. How will these additional funds enhance your office's work?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Many of the employees who work in my office are what we refer to as “knowledge workers”. It takes years sometimes to learn their jobs, to learn how to properly do the work. A large segment of this expenditure is for a reasonable economic increase of 3.5% to their salaries on April 1, 2022, and also the payment of slightly more for fringe benefits as decided by the Treasury Board.
It's retention through a decent pay increase, which is far less than inflation but is still a good sign from the employer, i.e., me, that we value their services. That's where we will put that money. We will also put that money toward a staff survey, to make sure that they continue to be happy in their work and they provide good services.
We have a service standard that says, if you get in touch with us and you want advice, we'll do it within three days. Last year, it was met 95% of the time, and I would like it to stay that way. Therefore, I don't want to lose the precious advisers who provide those services.
That's what we're doing. We're trying to have a working environment that fulfills their professional aspirations, so they don't look elsewhere for a few dollars more.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Thank you for your time and for your service.
Do I have any more time, Mr. Chair?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Pat Kelly
You have time for a very brief comment or perhaps a brief yes-or-no question. You have about 30 seconds.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
I will just say thank you for your service, and thank you for all the information you provided today, Mr. Dion.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Pat Kelly
I will thank you, Mr. Bains, for helping to keep us on schedule.
I will go now to Monsieur Villemure for two minutes.
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I could go on talking to the Ethics Commissioner for hours.
In my opinion, the answers given so far have been clear, straightforward and on the money.
I hope we will be fortunate enough to have Mr. Dion for many years to come. I find that what he's brought to the table is leading us in the right direction.
Mr. Dion, do you think we can influence the culture in a community by our actions, for example?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Yes, I think we've begun to influence the culture in a community.
Based on the numbers in our annual reports, it seems that people take us seriously. Well, at least they take us more seriously than they did four or five years ago. When I say “take us seriously”, I mean they know that we exist, they have a better understanding of who we are, and they fulfill all their obligations, among other things.
However, in my opinion, the key lies in attending educational activities. That's not happening right now.
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
We will certainly recommend that activities be held and that, ideally, they be mandatory.
I commend you for your efforts to keep your staff well informed. As you said, it takes several years to train people in this field and it's not easy. I think we need to value competence much more.
I have no more questions, but I appreciate everything you've done.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Thank you very much.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Pat Kelly
Mr. Green, you will have the last round here, for a couple of minutes.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Thank you very much.
How often do you launch examinations on your own initiative?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
It's about 60% of the time. Since I've been there, we've done 21 reports, and two-thirds were on my own initiative.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Do the resources of your office have an impact on the number of cases you can examine on your own?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
No, we've always had enough resources to do it. I have never failed to investigate something I wished I could investigate because of the resource consideration. Never.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
That's a great answer. Thank you, Mr. Dion.
According to your strategic plan for 2018-21, your office was to focus on some key priorities, including the modernization of technology. Is the modernization completed?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I referred to our new case management system, which will be launched this year. It's well advanced. We're at the 80% mark. However, we want to do it well, with a good education program both within and for users as well, including MPs.
NDP
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Pat Kelly
No, you may not. You might have had that minute already at a previous meeting.
I wish to thank Commissioner Dion for his time and his responses to questions today. If we had more time, I might have had a few questions from the chair, but since we don't, I will simply adjourn the meeting with our thanks.
The meeting is adjourned.