Information & Ethics committee  You asked first about translation. I'm not an expert on the Official Languages Act who would know just how far or how broadly those implications would go. To highlight one of the examples I raised in terms of things like committee proceedings and the like, which are made available in both languages and are being translated right now, I do know that it's already translated material.

Information & Ethics committee  To unpack those few questions, I don't have an answer for why the decision was made to cancel the CAIRS database. I recall there was a fairly robust discussion at the time. I still think that, as was said at the time, it was a mistake, largely because the information is, of course, still available; this only creates a bit of a speed bump or barrier for those who might want to access it.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I think at times there are. Depending on the type of data, there can be differences between the federal, provincial, and local levels. I'm thinking, for example, that it's a good opportunity to reference what exists right now with legal information. I would hope most people would agree that of all the sorts of data that ought to be made freely available, court cases and statutes are certainly towards the very top of the list.

Information & Ethics committee  I think they are largely interchangeable. I actually think “open government” has been the more popular term from other governments, and I think part of it just comes down to marketing, quite frankly. Some governments have seen the marketing value in being portrayed as open and have latched on to the “open government” term, but the reality is that people in the area who are talking about what governments could and should be doing are largely talking about the same thing, whether they're talking about open government or open data.

Information & Ethics committee  Thanks very much. Good afternoon. My name is Michael Geist. I'm a law professor at the University of Ottawa, where I hold the Canada Research Chair in Internet and e-commerce law. By way of background, I serve on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's expert advisory committee and on a number of boards, including the board of the Canadian Legal Information Institute, which is funded by Canadian law societies to provide free access to law.