Thanks for the question.
This is something that has come up in the inquiries that we conduct.
Again, if I can draw the distinction between the public office holder code, which is not this one.... Under the public office holder code, the Ethics Commissioner has the power to summon or subpoena information; under the member of Parliament code, he does not.
In conducting investigations, if the allegation raised leads us to try to obtain information from government departments or organizations, we have great difficulty getting that information. Under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, we are not an investigative body under those acts that would allow them to release it to us, and we don't have the power to summon or subpoena, so we can't get the information. So if in relation to a particular situation the path of the inquiry leads us to a government department, they react as they have to, but they cannot provide the information to us. So we end up against a bit of a roadblock there.