Information & Ethics committee  I'll speak to that. In terms of open by default, I think it's important to recognize that there will always be some information that isn't open, for example because we need to protect it for reasons of privacy, and there are other sensitivities, security being another obvious one.

Information & Ethics committee  There's a clear correlation in some areas, and not so much in others. It depends. Some access to information requests are from individuals who are seeking case files because they want to know how their case is being treated and where it is in the system. If we can, for example, improve service delivery—which is another topic as well—so that the clients we're serving have a better sense of how their file is processing, that's another way to reduce access to information requests.

Information & Ethics committee  I apologize. Does the information you have relate to the Treasury Board Secretariat's performance as a department with regard to access to information?

Information & Ethics committee  I am with the chief information officer branch, so I'm working on information management across the Government of Canada, but I'm not involved in the delivery of the access to information services for TBS as a department. I can only speak in general terms, in terms of what the trends might be across government, and I'm not as familiar with—

Information & Ethics committee  Really, when a department seeks an extension past 30 days, it should be able to demonstrate that there are a very large number of records or that the scale of the research involved is so significant that it's disruptive to operations. Consultations with other institutions or third parties implicated in the records would be another significant contributor to requests for extensions.

Information & Ethics committee  One of the things we know through consultations around the open government action plan is that there is a high degree of interest in proactive disclosure of financial information in terms of government performance. Currently, government provides proactive disclosure of any contracts that are over $10,000.

Information & Ethics committee  In terms of feedback, some it was frankly my observation of public reaction through the media. The media are one of the clients of access to information service. It is an important staple to that group. In terms of the feedback on the consultation website, we're in the early days of getting feedback, so I wouldn't want to mislead you by saying that we've received a very large number of comments.

Information & Ethics committee  Sarah and I are looking at each other because that's an area where Shared Services Canada could probably better address your question. We haven't experienced anything of that nature since that time, but neither Sarah nor I have details on how Shared Services Canada has responded.

Information & Ethics committee  If I might add, I think the value of GCDOCS and of having very solid information management is that we can find the information that we're looking for more readily because it's well structured and faster and because we have a better capacity to search. The information is in one place.

Information & Ethics committee  We're currently all subject to the same 30-day limit. That might be a question that comes forward as well, but I would anticipate that we would expect a common standard of service and delivery from departments and organizations across the board so that Canadians can anticipate when they'll receive the information they're requesting.

Information & Ethics committee  Certainly we should be making every effort to look at how we can use proactive publication to better share information. For example, in my own department we recognize that we receive requests every month for the lists of briefing notes that have been provided to the deputy minister and to the minister.

Information & Ethics committee  In terms of the interim directive, we are applying it now. Going back to your earlier question, I apologize that I didn't have the numbers at hand, but the amount of fees that we had been collecting were in the range of about $57,000 annually, so given the costs associated with processing, we're anticipating that it is going to be helpful to the system to introduce these changes right now and we are moving forward with them.

Information & Ethics committee  No, it does not; it applies to public servants.

Information & Ethics committee  They are able to use GCDOCS products independent of the project that Sarah and her team are leading. One example would be the museum of science and technology. It is a crown corporation that uses GCDOCS in its operations. There are probably others, but I'm not as familiar with them.

Information & Ethics committee  The policy right now has been in place for some time. It requires public servants to document decisions and decision-making as well as activities. We provide guidance to employees to help them interpret what that means. That could be any records that are associated with dealings with the contractor, whether it's a request for an order or the bill of lading, the slip that proves that the goods were delivered.