Information & Ethics committee  If it were self-enforcing a lot more, we wouldn't have 1,200 complaints from people.

Information & Ethics committee  Self-enforcing means that the departments put more resources into enforcing this law, into taking this more seriously, because there are some consequences.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, it is.

Information & Ethics committee  We've hired 20 and we have about 12 competitions ongoing right now.

Information & Ethics committee  There's a whole range of them. It's written up in our annual report. There was a case that went to the Federal Court of Appeal this year, the Murdoch case, which interested some members of Parliament. I think it was a situation involving the RCMP. Mr. Murdoch said he must surely be able to get damages for what happened to him because the Privacy Commissioner said it was a problem.

Information & Ethics committee  No, it isn't. We got onto that very early, and I think we can accommodate in creative ways.

Information & Ethics committee  No.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I think it was on April 1, when it was confirmed that we did have that money.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chairman, perhaps I could remind the honourable member that we have a mandate that is multifaceted. We don't just do investigations. Investigations are perhaps the one single most important line item, but we do audits and reviews. We evaluate privacy impact assessments for the various departments and organizations in the federal government.

Information & Ethics committee  Perhaps I could refer the honourable member to the beginning of the report on plans and priorities, where we put forth the case of the urgent need for increased funds in the face of the advances in privacy technology, in the face of the threats to Canadians because of increasingly privacy-invasive practices; because of the need to inform Canadians of their privacy rights, and because of the need to help the federal government develop privacy-respectful practices in dealing with citizens' information.

Information & Ethics committee  When we had submitted our calculations last year, we asked for a bit over four person-years for a period of two budgetary years—this year and next year—in order to clear that backlog.

Information & Ethics committee  We also asked for a higher permanent level of funding for that branch too. I believe it was for four or five permanent investigators, but I'd have to look up the exact number. There's a rise in the general resource level of the investigative function, and apart from that, there's a two-year special effort to clear the backlog.

Information & Ethics committee  As soon as we have the extra people, they are going to attack directly that backlog. In fact, I believe they've already started.

Information & Ethics committee  We do public opinion polling. We wondered if we should ask that question, but we were told by the experts that it wasn't worth it because the public usually doesn't recognize organizations like ours.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I don't accept it, because as I said, we have a more aggressive public education program. We have become, in this fiscal year, much more proactive. My aim is certainly to make us known, but at the time I asked that question, we were trying to get the office together and we didn't have a lot of resources for public education.