Thank you, Mr. Matthews.
That still led Mr. Friday to adopt the position that the department had not complied with the act.
I would like to come back to the work of public servants.
The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics recently mentioned that there was likely too much closeness between public servants and the minister's office, as a result of which public servants rely more on the chain of command and compliance rather than being neutral in providing advice to the minister. For example, the ombudsman reports directly to the minister's office rather than to Parliament.
Is the closeness of public servants and ministers' offices a problem, given that more transparency is desired? We also want public servants to disclose wrongdoing, to voice their grievances, and to talk about problems that could undermine the department's reputation.