Information & Ethics committee  We're talking about significantly more monetary penalties--up to $250,000. That is in PIPEDA.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I would. I think they're being far too polite to you. I don't think, when you make special deals with crown corporations so that you can't—as my experience is—get anything out of them.... There's another clause in the Accountability Act that gives the definition of administrative records.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I am, but let me just—

Information & Ethics committee  I happened to be involved with one in 1998-99, which was when the Liberal MP Beaumier got section 67.1 passed, which said you shouldn't alter or prevent records from getting out. That, I think, sent a ripple through the bureaucracy. We had had the blood committee records destruction; we had had Somalia, where certain records were covered up.

Information & Ethics committee  I heard you ask that question before, but here's the thing: it's a red herring. Basically, there are only 30,000 or fewer people who use the act. If we had a million, which would be great, we would really have a good act. Why don't we have a million? It's because we have a lousy act.

Information & Ethics committee  First of all, the way I've put it in my bill is to call them restrictions or “secondary”. They shouldn't be, as they are right in the preamble, as they now are in the access act.... It's not a principle. If you make it a principle, then you have a dual road, and guess which road wins?

Information & Ethics committee  Former Commissioner Reid's bill started on the subject of trade secrets by saying, take out this consistent “confidential”. It's just a ploy by the corporations to.... And I would go further. I would say, take out the third-party notifications of corporations, special privileges originally put in by the business lobby in the access act; they delay records to no end.

Information & Ethics committee  Which ones? I'm merely going further, based on my international experience. Certainly I have found, out of appearing in front of court and without a constitutional right, that gives you a lot more leverage. If it's a mere statute, you have a lot more leverage. That's a difference.

Information & Ethics committee  Even if it's the Reid bill.

Information & Ethics committee  I would hope so. If it had a clear mandate for proactive disclosure practices, it could deal through a pool of talent and avoid all this extra time consultations with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of National Defence, because those guys would all be in there together, even if they're delegated to departments.

Information & Ethics committee  It is definitely true that the Federal Accountability Act did two positive things. First, it recognized that the act is very limited, so it extended it to some more agencies. Second, it put in a little stronger clause—I don't want to go much further—on the duty to assist requesters.

Information & Ethics committee  I think the time has long since come for full order-making power, and one way you have full order-making power is you have to complement that with enforceable penalties. To make an order enforceable, that's what you need. One of the problems is that people have said this is a quasi-judicial body and it's going to get formal and so on.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. As you said, I'm a long-time advocate for the public's right to know and an experienced access user. I'm also not bilingual. I am thankful for this opportunity to contribute to the access committee's continued attempt to get more than a largely dysfunctional Access to Information Act.