Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address Bill C-206, an act to amend the Access to Information Act and to make amendments to other acts.
That bill faced many obstacles before reaching second reading stage. I will show you how this bumpy ride finally made the Bloc Quebecois withdraw its support for this legislation.
First, I want to reaffirm the importance of access to information in a democratic society. It can be said without exaggeration that the rules governing access to information are a pillar of our democratic system.
Indeed, without these rules, there can be no transparency in the public administration. If unable to count on concrete standards that would provide them with access to the documents being held by the government, the public would in fact be deprived of its power of review, which is essential to the democratic health of any society. This power of review arises out of a fundamental right that belongs to each of us: the right to know.
The scandal around HRDC funding is a clear example of just how important that right to know is. This scandalous episode reminds us that it is essential to have a clear picture of what government is doing, so that public funds do not serve any private interests.
Given the total absence of government co-operation in this area, the public has had to rely on the Access to Information Act to try to discover where the Transitional Jobs Fund money has gone.
Recently, the Bloc Quebecois was able to use access to information to discover some major flaws in the Canada Information Office tendering process. We discovered, in fact, that the CIO had awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts without any call for tenders since June 4, 1998.
It is, for example, questionable to say the least that this body, the principal mandate of which is to promote federal propaganda, has awarded a $25,000 contract to a former Liberal candidate without calling for tenders. Thanks to access to information, we were able to obtain, and provide to our fellow citizens, the disconcerting details on the Liberal government's administration.
It must, however, be recognized that the effectiveness of the Access to Information Act is not absolute. A formidable bureaucratic culture continues to thwart the desire of the public to discover more about the practices of their government.
The Information Commissioner of Canada, John Reid, spoke on this matter the last time he appeared before the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. He said:
The right of access, which I and many others view as one of the cornerstones of our democratic process and one of the best tools available to ensure responsible government, only has meaning in a regime where information is professionally managed. All too often, and in a growing percentage of cases, it is proving virtually impossible for departments to locate all records responsive to a specific subject matter.
In short, it is not enough to hope that passing the Access to Information Act will lead to transparency, properly implementing it is necessary as well. For this to happen, the public service must promptly and efficiently respond to requests for access to information.
In a special report tabled in this House on Tuesday, the information commissioner evaluated the performance of eight departments in terms of their response time to requests for access to information. Once again, the commissioner's examination revealed that a number of departments fall far short in terms of speed.
No fewer than six departments, in fact, got an “F” on their response time. These dubious results illustrate just how far our institutions are away from developing the effectiveness required in properly applying the Access to Information Act.
That being said, by tabling Bill C-206, the hon. member for Wentworth—Burlington seemingly tried to correct certain flaws in the Access to Information Act. As we know, the hon. member had already alerted the members of this House to the need for substantially reviewing the content of that act.
On December 23, 1997, the hon. member had introduced another bill, Bill C-264, which received the support of a fair number of members. However, later on, the hon. member drastically changed the content of his bill.
On June 11, 1998, resorting to the politics of stealth, the original text of Bill C-264 was replaced with a different one. The bill was then reintroduced during the second session, on October 14, 1999, as it stood when the House prorogued.
The bill originally called C-264 and amended on June 11, 1998, thus became Bill C-206 when the House resumed sitting.
As I indicated in my introduction, that unusual process, to say the least, resulted in the Bloc Quebecois withdrawing its support. It must be understood that, while several Bloc Quebecois members initially supported the original version of Bill C-264, the situation is totally different in the case of the version now called Bill C-206.
There is a serious gap between these two versions. As evidence of that, one simply has to look at some of the new provisions that were quietly included in the June 11, 1998 version of the bill. The masterpiece of that sham is now found in clause 9 of Bill C-206.
First, these amendments have to do with the terminology used in clause 14 of the bill. Under this first amendment, the head of a government institution could refuse to disclose records containing information having to do with federal-provincial relations.
So it was that on a fine day in June, 1998, the expression “federal-provincial negotiations” used until then in Bill C-264 became “federal-provincial relations”. This change in terminology is not insignificant.
In fact, clause 14 of the bill provides for an important exception to the right of access to information. By substituting a term as generic as “relations” for a more specific term such as “negotiations”, the scope of the exception is broadened considerably. According to the Bloc Quebecois, this is a fundamental change, because it would have the effect of excluding an entire range of records to which the public is entitled to have access.
In addition, the new exception in clause 14.1, an exception not contained in the original version of Bill C-264, is quite simply unacceptable. For the benefit of members of the House, I will read this exception:
The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains information on plans, strategies or tactics relating to the possible secession of a part of Canada, including information held or collected for the purpose of developing those plans, strategies or tactics.
Whatever the member for Wentworth—Burlington may say, this proposal is just plain antidemocratic. How can we keep citizens in the dark about information dealing with the possible exercise of democracy by a people? The supreme court has recognized that accession to sovereignty is a completely legitimate and highly democratic project.
Canadians have a right to know how the federal government intends to proceed regarding such a fundamental right.
On June 11, 1998, Bill C-206 lost all credibility. Access to information, which is the core element of democracy for citizens, cannot be used as a tool to stop the democratic will of a people. The hon. member should know that it is ill-advised to follow the Privy Council's recommendations when it comes to democracy. History tells us that this bastion of federal arrogance is not very inclined to promote the development of democratic values.
For these reasons, members will understand that the Bloc Quebecois does not support Bill C-206 and will strongly oppose its passing.