Government Operations committee  I'm still interim, yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, that is true, Mr. Chair. Three years ago, there were approximately 2,300 complaints. Last year, we received about 2,000. This year, we are dealing with approximately 1,600.

Information & Ethics committee  That's correct.

Information & Ethics committee  The bottom line is that my team and I work very hard. At the end of the day, that's essentially what it is. As to the investigations, two things relevant to my leadership made a big difference last summer. Assistant Commissioner Neill was tasked with understanding what she had in inventory, which was not an easy job.

Information & Ethics committee  I have spoken with Minister Day and I have been engaged in ongoing discussions with the Secretary of the Treasury Board. I am happy to report that there is a commitment to improving the system. Meeting with ministers, deputies, or heads of agencies always makes me optimistic about improving performance and access to information.

Information & Ethics committee  In fact, there are two major areas of activity. There are investigations on three specific complaints that we received. Those are distinct, specific investigations that are underway. The priority investigation is on the activities of Mr. Togneri at the Department of Public Works and Government Services.

Information & Ethics committee  I am getting to the gist of the matter, Mr. Chair.

Information & Ethics committee  For one of the investigations, I expect we will have findings by the fall.

Information & Ethics committee  We couldn't do it on a routine basis, definitely not. The budget freeze is having a major impact on our operations right now. I'm appearing before the government operations committee next week. We are completing our analysis of that. Our budget situation is very tight at this point.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I can't on extension matters.

Information & Ethics committee  If it is considered to be a deemed refusal under the legislation, yes, you can go to court. Usually what happens is that by the time you have a court hearing, the institution will release the information. So what we do now is try to obtain from the institution commitment dates, at which time they will release the information.

Information & Ethics committee  Technically speaking, we could.

Information & Ethics committee  We have not, to my knowledge, so far. We really try to work hard to negotiate the release of the information, because at the end of the day that only deals with the release of the information at a certain time. It really doesn't deal with the actual package that is released, any exceptions or exclusions that are applied, so in terms of the release of the information to the requester, we are not gaining much time by going to court.

Information & Ethics committee  The special report that we tabled recently tackled that specific aspect of time delays, both deemed refusal and extension notices, so we have done that. The point of the report cards this year is that we are going to work very closely with those 13 institutions, and it is a possibility, obviously.

Information & Ethics committee  Obviously, it is up to the government to decide whether it wants to propose a bill or not. I will always make myself available to the committee.