Information & Ethics committee  Access requests...

Information & Ethics committee  They are, along with the responses. The new provisions of the Quebec legislation that will come into force in 2009 provide that it will be mandatory on government institutions' Internet sites. There is nothing that says we have to have legislation to do something like that. We can do it administratively, at the federal level.

Information & Ethics committee  The Department of National Defence already does it.

Information & Ethics committee  Complaints are protected by very specific confidentiality provisions. However, when the Federal Accountability Act was passed, we became subject to the rules governing access to information. If there is a request, when the complaints are completely finished, the documents produced by the Office of the Commissioner are subject to the rules governing access to information.

Information & Ethics committee  That's right. That's why I say that this measure can be adopted administratively within the federal public service.

Information & Ethics committee  Obviously...

Information & Ethics committee  You understand, Mr. Chair, that we are talking about administrative measures. That is the big difference. If we are talking about legislative measures, obviously there is a legal obligation. Where there is an administrative measure, and this is the big difference, it is applied within the public service.

Information & Ethics committee  If we are talking about administrative improvements, proactive disclosure is one. I think another measure would be essential and should have a major impact: extensions and consultations within the system. There is no legislation that limits the time for extensions and consultations.

Information & Ethics committee  I would prefer that there be legislation, but if you are asking me what administrative measure would have the most impact, my answer is that this is one.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chair, as I said in my opening address, I have an Act to apply, and it makes certain powers and mechanisms available to me. My intention is to apply the Act using the powers set out in it. That is the first step. I am a problem-solver. In the government's response, I see two things.

Information & Ethics committee  It's important to clarify one thing with complaints against PCO. Historically, and even last year when we were reporting on data against the Privy Council Office, there was a practice at the OIC, which we have changed, of double-counting. When we had a matter related to cabinet confidences, a complaint would be opened against the Privy Council's Access to Information and Privacy Office as well as a complaint in the originating institution.

Information & Ethics committee  It's around 250 now with the passage of the Federal Accountability Act.

Information & Ethics committee  I would not be prepared to say that only South Africa and Canada have that exclusion in their legislation. I would have to verify that and do a bit more of a comparative analysis for you, which I can provide. More to the point is probably the jurisdictions in Canada. At the federal level, we are one of the few jurisdictions, if not the only one, that has cabinet confidence as an exclusion under the legislation--i.e., there's no right of review from the commissioner's office, which really goes against the fundamental tenet of access to information where we want to have an independent oversight mechanism.

Information & Ethics committee  We live in the age of instant information—this is 2009—and we have a system that is taking longer and longer. What we have in some departments is various lacunae in terms of handling digital information. The system has a very weak compliance model, so there are no real incentives in the legislation or anywhere in the system to ensure that there are timely responses to access to information requests.

Information & Ethics committee  First of all, you will find that I'm very much a data person. The 652 discontinued complaints, I would say, are more evidence of the fact that we dealt with the old inventory of cases. Last year, when we looked at that inventory, there was some very low-hanging fruit. It's true that some of those cases were so old that the requesters were no longer interested in the information.