Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Honestly, I am not sure I can answer your question because I have not thought about it. We could send you a written response on this.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The Privacy Act states that personal information held by federal institutions, including the Department or Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, must remain confidential if an individual has not consented to the disclosure of that information. I believe there is an

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Once again, sir, I am not in a position to answer that question. I am not a political scientist nor an analyst of debates on aboriginal governance. It seems to me that the main goal is to shed light on how this money is being spent. This is money that the government distributes n

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, not in this legislation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's what I understand the act provides for. It has to be on the first nations website, and then the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development will put it on its website, so you would have named individuals and their salaries on websites.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I believe the Privacy Act would apply to the extent that it isn't specifically superseded by this new legislation, if it is to pass. We mentioned that because we thought there was, in the discussion of this, some misunderstanding about the role of the Privacy Act. The Priv

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We haven't seen the amendments, but if you wanted us to come back to talk about them or.... You're well served, I think, by your parliamentary staff, but certainly if we could be helpful to you.... Perhaps I could mention to you, honourable member, that I think some of what you'

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Can I turn you over to the specialist on this?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I guess we haven't been able to think as much as we would like to along these lines, but certain researchers, notably the Australian Law Reform Commission, in its review of their privacy legislation raised the question of group rights and group attitudes to privacy, particularly

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Financial transparency for governments in Canada would probably vary according to the province. Again, there are other people who know more about financial transparency than I do, but I think, first of all, our parliamentary budget process means, in principle—I know it's a comple

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't know that, honourable member. I have read that the Auditor General has audited the first nations, and I'm aware that he or she raised the issue of the reporting burden in the past, but that is all I can say.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In my presentation I suggested that this is a trend, with the caveat that to the extent you can compare the elected officials of first nations and some of their high-ranking employees to government officials. There may be constitutional arguments. There are doubtless aboriginal l

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. As Privacy Commissioner, I spend more time thinking about the protection of personal information than the contrary. As I mentioned in my statement, there is a growing trend toward transparency throughout the democratic world. As Privacy Commissioner

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No.