Information & Ethics committee  As we look at our outreach strategy over the short to long term, that is something we should be keeping in mind, so I thank you for raising that.

Information & Ethics committee  My position definitely is that this position does report to Parliament, which is you, so very much I see you as an ally in working. It's like reporting to the boss, so yes.

Information & Ethics committee  They are ongoing. I said there have been seven exemption requests to date. I've granted one, which is posted.

Information & Ethics committee  It's actually available right on the website, in terms of the report.

Information & Ethics committee  The one I've granted is Guy Bujold. He is the former interim head of the Space Agency.

Information & Ethics committee  We have referred a number of cases over to the RCMP, and it has made decisions on all the ones we have sent over.

Information & Ethics committee  The first answer is yes. The act actually requires a report be tabled on June 30.

Information & Ethics committee  At this point we would be commenting, I guess, on some of the findings we've had with communication entries, some of our successes I mentioned with the outreach activities. We usually do our normal statistics, if you've looked at previous annual reports, as to number of firms and so on being lobbied.

Information & Ethics committee  Bruce is going to answer you further.

Information & Ethics committee  I'd have to get back to you on that. I'm not aware of any.

Information & Ethics committee  As I was saying earlier, we're quite pleased that this is now official mandate, because since I joined the organization in 2004, we've always felt education to be a priority. You reach more people through education than even compliance. So with the particular mandate, one of the things we've been currently working on is a strategy that will address the short, medium and long terms.

Information & Ethics committee  On your question about multiple offenders, the four reports that were tabled were on the same lobbyist. As for providing the names of the cases that have been under review, the act requires that I conduct investigations in private. That has been extended to administrative reviews as well, because you don't know if there will be reason to believe they should be forwarded to the investigation stage.

Information & Ethics committee  I have only granted one to date.

Information & Ethics committee  Since July, when the act came into force, seven exemption applications have been put in.

Information & Ethics committee  I would probably start with what the act says, and that's very much what I did in looking at the exceptions. The act is pretty clear that while the commissioner can grant an exception, it needs to be done in accordance with what Parliament intended. Some of the reasons given in the act are whether a person was acting, for example, for a short period of time, or whether they were doing student or administrative work.