Information & Ethics committee  Quebec's access to information legislation does indeed set out restrictions protecting the information provided by third parties and private enterprises under certain conditions. If the disclosure is likely to reduce the enterprise's competitive margin or result in profit for a c

Information & Ethics committee  My answer is twofold. If the disclosure is done and not ongoing, efforts will be made to prevent it from happening again. The Commission d'accès à l’information du Québec, however, does not have the authority to order any compensation for damages or injury suffered by a person a

Information & Ethics committee  It depends on the context. If a public body or enterprise disclosed personal information, the commission would deal with it through an investigation. People can file complaints with the commission, but the commission can also investigate on its own initiative to determine whethe

Information & Ethics committee  Perhaps I wasn't clear. The Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec has the dual mandate you mentioned, in other words, ensuring access to documents and protecting privacy. But we have two separate divisions, an adjudication division and an oversight division. As an instit

Information & Ethics committee  That's a broad question. Some of the recommendations in Ms. Legault's report aren't relevant because Quebec's legislation is different. In fact, you pointed that out, Mr. Saini. On the whole, I'm not opposed to any of the recommendations. In our efforts to modernize Quebec's leg

Information & Ethics committee  Quebec's legislation contains a provision on those types of situations, specifically. It authorizes the commission to cease to examine a matter if the application is considered to be vexatious or frivolous, or made in bad faith. The act contains another provision to address what

Information & Ethics committee  Under Quebec's legislation, access to a document is free of charge for citizens. But, under the regulations, a public body may charge a fee for the reproduction of the document, after the first 20 pages or so. And, obviously, there is no charge to consult the document on site. Th

Information & Ethics committee  A number of criteria currently apply in terms of the government agencies subject to the access to documents act. With respect to an organization's funding, the act stipulates that bodies whose capital stock forms part of the public domain are subject to the act. As interpreted by

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you for your question. The answer to your first question is no. Quebec currently has no legal duty to document. As for your second question, the answer is yes. Quebec agrees with the need for such an obligation. That's why we signed a joint statement to that effect, along

Information & Ethics committee  I can give you details on the examples I mentioned regarding the exemptions in Quebec's legislation. Recommendations made by a cabinet committee or a member of the executive council are generally protected by a specific provision. The same is true of studies made within the exec

Information & Ethics committee  Just a quick clarification. The problem we have in Quebec is different. Under the act, when an agency hasn't responded within the prescribed time frame, the assumption is that the organization is refusing to disclose. So the citizen immediately turns to us, and we treat the file

Information & Ethics committee  The act was amended in 2006 to build in that obligation for government departments and agencies. Since 2009, regulations have set out the documents that must be made available on the Internet. The government recently amended the regulations governing distribution, increasing the

Information & Ethics committee  With the safeguards I mentioned already set out in the act, Quebec's experience has been rather positive. Since we have certain decisions pending before the courts, you'll appreciate that I can't say much more than that on the different interpretations of those provisions. Never

Information & Ethics committee  Quebec's access to information legislation applies to the government, the National Assembly, the lieutenant-governor, the Conseil exécutif—or executive council—and the Conseil du trésor—or treasury board. They can, however, invoke restrictions to protect certain kinds of informat

Information & Ethics committee  A number of considerations come into play. The commission would like more organizations brought under the access to documents act. Currently, certain organizations that are entirely, or mostly, publicly funded, as well as those carrying out functions comparable to public functio