Information & Ethics committee  Maybe the director of corporate services can add something to that.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, I'll try to explain this again. First of all, we have in fact an enhanced budget since April 1, although--

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. I don't have the figures before me, Mr. Chairman, but I think this year it's probably because we have, after public tender, awarded that contract to the winner.

Information & Ethics committee  There's possibly a volume of complaints. There's also possibly a lot more public education to be done about the importance of protection of personal information and treating it as an important thing, so that there aren't leaks and there isn't misuse in all the various structures in which ordinary people would now have access to people's birthdays--don't leave it lying around, make sure the right person gets it, and so on.

Information & Ethics committee  It does. I appeared before a committee last spring, and I said that if you move to this kind of step, you have to make sure you think it's absolutely necessary. I haven't been called to appear on that particular bill, but I can say that if and when it is passed into law, I would certainly want to cooperate with the director general of elections in order to try to see how we could make sure that the 450 people who work for you, as for other honourable members, are very clear with the message that this is a sacred trust.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. Chairman, I'd be happy to answer those. The office has needed, and continues to need less, a certain amount of what's called management consulting. These are often either facilitators or people specialized in human resources issues, in management development issues. As you know, the office had severe reconstruction challenges.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  I believe Mr. Pulcine is, for last year.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. You're talking about the travelling done by the Office senior management such as myself and the...

Information & Ethics committee  We are travelling to make presentations. Soon I will do so within Canada and outside of Canada. Within Canada, we respond as much as possible to the invitations we receive for presentations and to speak at seminars, for instance in the IT sector , to people working in the access to information sector and who have to know how to protect privacy and we also attend symposiums and conventions organized by our provincial counterparts.

Information & Ethics committee  At the request of our Mexican counterparts, I went to Mexico with the British Columbia commissioner in order to give some training on the protection of personal information to the new agency which is being set up. These are just a few example as to why and how we travel.

Information & Ethics committee  Proactive disclosure refers to Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines that have been in force since December 2003, which require that travel and hospitality expenses of anyone at the executive level or above be posted to the website. We have posted all those expenses since then, and you can see them.

Information & Ethics committee  You're right, Mr. Chairman, because notably the investigation branch travels widely across Canada in the course of investigations.

Information & Ethics committee  We are in the process of attempting this exercise with a lawyer and an accountant. So, we have not yet finished this estimate but we must remember that a great number of organizations are involved. Just before coming here, I did ask what the number was but they are still in the process of figuring it out.

Information & Ethics committee  In order to assess the costs?