I think Mr. O'Connor touched on something, as did Mr. Trottier, about what is it exactly that we're talking about here? I think there is a presumption when people hear the term “open data”, that it implies the essence of open government. The two, as you clearly defined, are not the same. As I understand it, open data is that which is already available or should be available to the public through normal access to information channels or through that which is already published but is just opaque in the way people can access it and should be made available in a broader, more accessible format. I'll ask you to comment about that if you could.
In addition, there is an assumption about cost recovery of data. The government, especially through Statistics Canada, in particular, has been providing information on a fee-for-service basis, on a cost recovery basis. I'll ask you, will this impact that by eliminating those costs? Does our membership in the G-8 Open Data Charter imply that those costs will now be eliminated and the information made more accessible?
Finally, how far is this going to go? I was perusing your deck a little while ago and it says, to give one example, “What happened to the fish in my lake?”, and it lists a whole lot of environmental, habitat, and other ecosystem observations and reports that would be available. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has access to databases of who catches fish and how much, but they don't publish those. It's available under the Access to Information Act if you constantly probe and ask them for it.
Is that the extent of this? Is this where this is going? Will there be a PCO or a Treasury Board mandate that says to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, you have to start publishing this data on a quarterly basis or on an annual basis and do so in a transparent and predictable fashion?
There are a few questions there and I hope you've absorbed them.