Information & Ethics committee  None of the 12 recommendations will address the problems with the regime right now.

Information & Ethics committee  You have to look at the right of access. It's not the privilege of access. You have a right to access information. If you see a large volume of requests aimed at one department, it means there's a need to be more informed about that department. So why not make it public instead of waiting and accusing the requester of making too many requests?

Information & Ethics committee  I would add that this should be one of the pressing matters: addressing the amber light system. It's not there.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely.

Information & Ethics committee  When you look at the act, the commissioner has only one mandate: to receive complaints and to investigate them. This is the only role and mandate under the act. Right now, based on the public websites, there are only 16 investigators to carry out the mandate. You have the commissioner and two deputy commissioners, nine directors or acting directors, four chiefs or acting chiefs, three managers, one acting senior legal counsel, one general counsel, and one senior policy adviser.

Information & Ethics committee  If I could add to that, the next generation of access legislation will be proactive disclosure. We're not looking at a request initiated by a citizen; rather, the government or administration would be disclosing the information proactively. There would be no fees; you'd just need a good computer or a good library.

Information & Ethics committee  When you are referring to New Zealand, you're talking about the open court system. You're referring to the judicial branch of the courts where all decisions, decision-making, everything is in the open. But we have that in Canada. In the common law system, all the court systems are open.

Information & Ethics committee  No, but we could provide you with it.

Information & Ethics committee  It's a lot of the Commonwealth countries.

Information & Ethics committee  If I could add to that, if the government were to accept e-mails and letters, this could be done even without changing the act. It could be done through regulations. You don't need to change the act to do that. But what we are concerned about too is that in the document tabled here by the commissioner, the 12 recommendations address only the most pressing matters, and we don't think that the universal right of access is one of these 12 pressing matters right now.

Information & Ethics committee  India and the Cayman Islands.

Information & Ethics committee  I agree. I don't want to take more time on that.

Information & Ethics committee  That is why we have a commissioner, an ombudsman. Under the system we established in the early 80s, the ombudsman takes the citizen's complaint without going through all the paperwork of lawyers and clerks. Ordinary people make their complaint directly to the ombudsman, to the Information Commissioner, who has full investigative powers.

Information & Ethics committee  You'll have to ask the commissioner why they're not using all their powers.

Information & Ethics committee  I remember in the past when I was there.... When they conduct an investigation, if they're not happy with the answers they get and they want to get to the basics and understand what's happening in the department or institution, they can subpoena the person to appear before the commissioner.