Mr. Speaker, I have two reports to present this morning. They will require some explanation, so I hope the House will indulge me.
I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
At its meeting on Thursday, March 11 the committee unanimously adopted a motion that the 10th report entitled “The Privacy Act: First Steps Towards Renewal” adopted and presented to the House in the second session of the 40th Parliament be adopted as a report of the committee in the present session, and that the chair present the report to the House.
The report tabled in the last session requested that the government table a comprehensive response to the report pursuant to Standing Order 109. As the government did in fact table its response to the report on October 9, the report being tabled today is identical in all respects to the report tabled last session with the exception that it does not include pages 29 and 30, which only requested a government response.
The minutes and evidence of the meeting of March 11 will reflect that the chair is to specifically advise the House that we are not requesting a government response.
By way of explanation, the committee was not satisfied with the government response, and on November 26, 2009, the committee unanimously passed a motion that the Minister of Justice be requested to address each of the recommendations in the report and provide background for his caution and concerns by January 15.
On December 10, 2009, the minister wrote to the committee and agreed to comply, subject to an extension to February 15. The committee concurred with the extension but no response has yet been received. Although the House was prorogued on December 30, the committee anticipated that a response would still be forthcoming. Discussions have been held with the Minister of Justice to resolve this matter and we await his consideration for his undertakings and his response to our invitation to him to appear before committee.
Finally, ostensibly the reason for re-tabling this report in the House is so that there is a report which the committee can refer to in the current session. I expect that there may be other committees that have similar situations as a consequence of the last prorogation of Parliament.
I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
At its meeting on Thursday, March 11 the committee unanimously adopted a motion that the 11th report entitled “The Access to Information Act: First Steps Towards Renewal” adopted and presented to the House in the second session of the 40th Parliament be adopted as a report of the committee in the present session, and that the chair present the report to the House.
The report tabled in the last session requests that the government table a comprehensive response to the report pursuant to Standing Order 109. As the government tabled its response to the report on October 9, 2009, the report being tabled today is identical in all respects to the report tabled last session with the exception that it does not include pages 31 and 32, which only requested a government response.
The minutes and evidence of the committee meeting of March 11 will reflect that the chair will specifically advise the House that we are not requesting a government response.
By way of explanation again, similarly, the committee was not satisfied with the government response of October 9, 2009, and on November 26 the committee unanimously passed a motion that the justice minister be requested to address each of the recommendations in the report and provide background for his caution and concerns.
For the record, identical to the previous statement, we are still in discussions and we look forward to receiving the justice minister's concurrence with our request for him to respond and to appear before committee.