Public Accounts Committee on Feb. 24th, 2014

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

I know when people come to my constituency office, I get that obviously in some cases of EI payments and how it ties in with the CRA, I think the Auditor General is right in the sense that there seems to be a lot more cohesion there, but that's really the only cohesion I can see. It seems to me CRA has probably done most, if I may use the term, outreach over the past little while, and you have already made that very important.

What about for different provinces, however? It seems I only have buy-in from two provinces so far when it comes to CRA.

[Dave Bennett]

In what aspect?

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Let me give you one example.

[The Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

I'm sorry, Mr. Simms, you'll have to save the example, but it was a great time to take a breath.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

For you or for me?

[The Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

Mr. Albas, you have the floor, sir, and we're just going to make it.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

I'd like to share my time with Mr. Cannan, if I'm not too long-winded, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

Certainly.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

I appreciate what the Auditor General said a little earlier when he said let's not confuse it. He said, and I'm paraphrasing you, sir, that Canadians have the simple desire to be able to access and have the convenient use of services, but they are complex issues because they're technological issues and technology has changed. The use of the Internet, and even the technology behind it, has changed.

For example, there's a gentleman in my riding, Mr. Westlake, who is blind and yet he uses the Internet through a series of special software programs. Over the last five or so years he has seen some great changes in technology, but he can't afford some of the new browsers that are available. The concern for him was when the Government of Canada changes some of the websites, which we've done successfully, will that accessibility be there or will he have to get enhanced software? I was quite happy to point out through the President of the Treasury Board that this wasn't the case, that there would be that accessibility.

Again, Ms. Charette, I'm coming back to you. Obviously, the government has a special duty to make sure these things are secure, but I would also say there has to be accessibility. We can't just use boilerplate templates that other business entities might use, because we have to make sure it's not just 100% secure, but also that there is accessibility. Would you not agree?

[Corinne Charette]

Absolutely. Over the last three years the government has been working very hard on online accessibility for people with visual and other impairments, and we have met our target objectives in this area and are now exporting, so to speak. The work we've done is now available on open source to other jurisdictions, internationally and provincially.

We're very proud of the accessibility work we do and we keep all our web work formal.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Again, going back to what complicates it, does it complicate it to have those kinds of things where there are secure transactions that have to be accessible to people with those kinds of needs?

[Corinne Charette]

It requires some forethought, design, and the use of the right techniques and obviously individuals able to adopt those techniques carefully. It does take a bit more time, but it's certainly well worth it and we've automated it to a great extent to make it as easy as possible to be compliant.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

I appreciate that, because I know our provincial counterparts have talked for years about how e-health initiatives were going to make it all more efficient for us for health care, but again, that's a very complicated area. I'm not going to go there other than to say it's one thing to desire cost-effective access to these kinds of things, but we also have to make sure they're absolutely secure, because that's personal information.

I'd like to pass the rest of my time to Mr. Cannan, please.

[The Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

Certainly.

Mr. Cannan, you have the floor.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses.

I have three quick points.

My first point is that BizPaL has been very successful working with the provinces and the federal government. Is that a model you're looking at to implement other Industry Canada programs?

[Éric Dagenais]

Not for the moment, but yes, we've implemented a very successful model in collaboration with the municipalities and the provinces. Right now we're consolidating BizPaL, adding municipalities and examining ways in which the BizPaL service could be deepened through elements like regulations. Right now it's only for permits and licences. We're exploring the possibility of looking at regulations.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

My second point is with respect to the $2 million allocated in the budget, and that's why it's so important to support the budget. It will help My VAC Account. It will make it more user friendly and streamline it more comprehensively. Is that correct?

[Charlotte Bastien]

It is correct.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

My third point is on service delivery integration.

I have a neighbour who is an RCMP officer working with and sharing information with CRA, but CRA can't reciprocate and pass information to the RCMP. It's unilateral and there are some frustrations there. My understanding is other departments, DND, for example, can transfer that information to Veterans Affairs.

Mr. Ferguson, maybe you could share with the committee your understanding of the Privacy Act.

[Michael Ferguson]

That probably would be a dangerous thing for me to do, quite frankly, but I think we've said in paragraph 2.27 that the Privacy Act does establish the way that government institutions are to collect, use, and disclose personal information. Then we go on to say that the act is not meant to hinder information sharing, but to ensure the effective protection—

[The Chair, NDP, David Christopherson]

Again, my apologies, sir. I'm sorry.

Last, but certainly not least, Mr. Allen.

Do you want to share your time?

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Yes, I'm sharing my time with Mr. Giguère.

I want to quickly go back to page 16, paragraph 2.45. I will go to Mr. Ferguson and then to Madame Giliberti.

There is a recommendation. You agree with it through HRSDC. You call it vision 2018, and then again in your management action plan you talk about vision 2020. Are they one and the same, or not?

[Carolina Giliberti]

Maybe I can clarify. I think at the time the Auditor General was doing his audit, the document was called “Vision 2018”. It has since been changed, and it's now called “Vision 2020”. It is the same document. When the audit was being done, we were in the process of developing that document and we have now entitled it “Vision 2020”.

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

I appreciate you might have used a different title. Here's the dilemma for me as a member of the committee. I'm actually referencing a document through Mr. Ferguson's audit that refers to 2018. How do I know that your “Vision 2020” document is indeed the same thing?

[Carolina Giliberti]

Because at the time the Auditor General—