The problem [Technical difficulty—Editor] advanced analytics has been an absolute lack of transparency. Most of the information we know about these technologies is information that has been obtained through access to information requests. It's not information that was made available by IRCC.
Now, I can't even say exactly what Chinook is. We're told it's a computer software—an Excel sheet—but I have seen cases where some immigration lawyers did Access to Information requests and some aspects of Chinook were actually exempted from disclosure under section 15(1) of the Access to Information Act. Section 15 deals with international affairs and defence.
The problem I'm having then is, if Chinook is an ordinary Excel spreadsheet, why are they withholding disclosure of some information on Chinook based on section 15 of the Access to Information Act, which deals with international affairs and defence?
I think there is more to Chinook than we know and than IRCC is willing to disclose. That is the transparency issue we are talking about. If this matter is actually covered by national defence, let's have an independent body of experts analyze this and, of course, know what should be made available to the public and what should be withheld.
IRCC seems to be the judge and jury in their own matters and that lacks transparency.