Mr. Chair, this amendment would remove the requirements that the PBO not release the information unless it is already made publicly available, and the head of the department of parent crown corporation has consented to disclosure. The proposed amendment would remove two clauses that were included in the originally proposed legislation to help ensure that a confidential matter is not inadvertently or inappropriately released by the parliamentary budget office. This removal gives the PBO considerable latitude to decide what documents should and should not be disclosed outside of an election period, including potential secret documents. Concerns have been raised by current and former PBOs and by members of the House and the Senate that these proposed clauses in the legislation could give deputy heads a virtual veto on the content of the PBO's report.
The intention of the proposed clauses was to provide a balance to ensure that as the PBO received access to a wider amount of information, safeguards were in place to ensure that secret and other sensitive information used in the PBO's reports were appropriately protected from disclosure. It is expected that the PBO and departments and crown corporations will work closely together to develop appropriate protocols and arrangements for the sharing and potential disclosure of secret or other sensitive information as required.
I think many of us have been very sensitive to this idea to ensure the PBO has access to a wider amount of information so they can do their job effectively. This amendment is intended to provide a balance between the wider access to information while protecting sensitive information, and it's not intended to unduly curtail the PBO's activities.
We're hoping that, being reasonable people, the PBO, departments and crown corporations will have the opportunity of actually working together to come up with the protocols necessary to ensure the information is released in a good way.