Government Operations committee  I'd say certainly, Mr. Chair. I think our office is sufficiently funded to carry out our work at this time. We receive approximately 80 to 90 new disclosure files a year and about 30 to 35 reprisal files a year. All reprisal cases involve behavioural issues, because someone is retaliating against someone, and it is not uncommon for a disclosure file to include a behavioural aspect, if you will.

Government Operations committee  It is a bit different being an independent commissioner. In my opinion, information security is essential in light of current and potential disclosures. We purchase our computer services from the Human Rights Commission. It is however absolutely essential for us to remain independent and to be able to protect all of our information.

Government Operations committee  We launched one this morning, and Ms. Duquette, my deputy commissioner, launched one last night after the speaking notes were finalized. That would be a correction, 28.

Government Operations committee  If there are going to be comments about any names, Mr. Chair, I'm sure that I would be the winner of the competition among my colleagues here, but I'm open to jokes.

Government Operations committee  If I told you, Mr. Chair, that was not the first time I've heard that comment today, would you be surprised?

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for invitation. I'd like to introduce my colleagues France Duquette, deputy commissioner, and Éric Trottier, our chief financial officer. Our office, Mr. Chair, was created in 2007 under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, as part of the federal government's accountability initiative.

Government Operations committee  I must say that it is possible.

Government Operations committee  The most significant one is raising awareness, and that is a permanent challenge. Information management, the electronic process and information security also play a part. We are now actually enhancing our internal processes for protecting information. For instance, we access files and check all the cases on an ongoing basis.

Government Operations committee  He did, indeed.

Government Operations committee  I am named after my grandfather, Joseph Friday. The name is actually Belgian in origin, and it was anglicized to “Friday” from “Vendredi”. As I always say, my grandfather, after whom I'm named, had the good sense to die before the Dragnet TV show came on, so he didn't have to face a lifetime of jokes.

Government Operations committee  I will quickly speak to the process, which we have built over a period of time and for which we have restructured our organization around the needs that we have identified as we have processed cases. We have an initial case. The first decision-making point is after disclosure or a complaint comes in.

Government Operations committee  That's a risk we are willing to take. After looking into the issue, we concluded that it was not too serious.

Government Operations committee  Our involvement ends with the tabling of a public case report, which is a matter of public record. In the case of reprisal investigations, we would refer those to a specially constituted tribunal that has all the power of a court to order remedial action and also order disciplinary action.

Government Operations committee  Under the legislation, we have the authority to make a report to Parliament. We have the obligation to make a report to Parliament, a public report, on every founded case of wrongdoing. We make recommendations for corrective action. One of the very delicate issues is that we don't step into the shoes of the chief executive of that organization, recognizing that our job is ultimately to hold that chief executive publicly accountable for making a decision to respond to what we find, to respond to a recommendation.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We have the authority under our legislation to follow up on recommendations and actually come back to Parliament to present any issues we observe or encounter in the implementation of recommendations or findings. To date, I can say that chief executives have taken our presence and our findings very seriously and have responded.