Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
Mr. Shea, I'm surely going to continue in the same vein or along the same lines as my colleague.
The Information Commissioner came to see us this week. She told us that there has been a steady decline in Canada's access to information system since 2018. I will be clear for the people watching: There is a commissioner's office that's independent from the government and whose job is to ensure that institutions comply with the act, that the public is well represented and that people can have confidence in our institutions. However, the commissioner is telling us that there has been a decline and that the Office of the Information Commissioner is no longer fulfilling its role because it's running up against bureaucracy.
We're now learning that $1.6 million of taxpayer money has been spent for you to fight in court over documents that she's asking you to provide. She presented her findings; she asked you to provide documents, and now you're going to fight in court to avoid providing them. I'd like an explanation on that.