Government Operations committee  As heads of institutions that are using public money, I think we all have a responsibility to engage in fiscal restraint to the extent that it's responsible and that we're still able to carry out our mandate. I think the analysis we're going through is the responsible thing to do.

Government Operations committee  That's a very astute question by the honourable member, because that's exactly it. Our business model was predicated on a five-year time span. The question I'm asking myself and part of the analysis we're doing this summer is whether that is too long a period for Canadians to have an Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, which is in a position to deal with the cases.

Government Operations committee  Madam Chair, there is a lot again in that question. The way I understand the honourable member's question.... Again, you're absolutely right. The risk is that if we do have an increase in complaints this year, we are going to be creating an additional backlog, even with the increased number of cases that we close.

Government Operations committee  Madame Chair, I'll try to be clear in my answer. I think the honourable member is actually absolutely right in his analysis, in the sense that our goal and our business model is predicated upon the fact that, once we have cleared our large inventory of cases, we'll have a manageable carry-over from year to year of between 300 and 500 cases.

Government Operations committee  When I became the interim commissioner, last summer, one of the first things I did was to ask the assistant commissioner, who is not here this afternoon, to develop some in-depth knowledge about our case inventory. The point of this exercise was, in fact, to improve our effectiveness.

Government Operations committee  In the last three years we had two submissions to Treasury Board Secretariat. For the first one, 2006-07, we received an additional $1.4 million. For last year and this fiscal year, because some of the funding is kicking in as we speak.... This fiscal year was $2.9 million, or roughly $3 million, which was an increase in the overall budget of the OIC of 57%.

Government Operations committee  Over the past two years, the process to obtain additional funding has been extremely well managed by all parties, and this work has been made possible thanks to the funding task force and the supervision of Parliament's officers. The process has worked very well. When we requested additional funding from Treasury Board, we first of all prepared an historical analysis of the percentage of complaints compared to the percentage of requests for access to information throughout the entire system.

Government Operations committee  We have neither the research mandate nor the funds inherent in such a research mandate. As a result, I do not have a really detailed knowledge about the way the various international systems operate. Furthermore, the legislative systems are different. It is therefore at times difficult to draw comparisons internationally.

Government Operations committee  Madam Chair, I am not an expert in terms of ministerial responsibility. I do understand, though, that the way the Access to Information Act is drafted, it does give the responsibility in most departments to the minister as the head of the institution, and under the legislation the minister is the person responsible.

Government Operations committee  Madam Chair, obviously one way in which we are keeping track of what is happening with those departments is that we are following up this year with the 13 institutions that performed below average. It's not necessarily only a question of resources, while in some instances it is, and we are going to keep a very close monitoring watch on those institutions this year.

Government Operations committee  It depends on the various institutions in regard to what the reasons are for a less than optimal performance. What we do find is what I call the “recipe for success” in the institutions that perform very well. The best example is the Department of Justice, where you have very strong leadership and commitment to access to information.

Government Operations committee  The decision regarding disclosure or non-disclosure is and should always be based on the legislation itself. The legislation has a presumption in favour of disclosure. It also provides for exemptions and certain exclusions. Some of those are mandatory exemptions and exclusions, and some of them are discretionary.

Government Operations committee  Under the legislation, the head of the institution is usually the minister, or in certain agencies it is the head of the institution. For instance, at the Information Commissioner's office, I am the head of the institution. And then each institution delegates authority to various people within it to make decisions.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to present the perspective of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada as part of the committee's study of the impact of the freeze on federal institutions' budgets. I come before you today with two perspectives. One, as the head of the Office of the Information Commissioner.