Government Operations committee  The court will rule on whether or not a parliamentary privilege exists, and there is already jurisprudence recognizing that the power to send for records and papers is an established parliamentary privilege. Once the courts have made this determination, how a privilege is exercised is for Parliament itself to decide.

Government Operations committee  The House or committees will decide the order they will issue. If an order is not complied with, the matter could be raised as a question of privilege, and there could be rulings from the Speaker. There were such rulings in 2009, 2011 and 2021, and they have all recognized the—

Government Operations committee  When there's a claim of parliamentary privilege and if the matter were to be referred to the courts, the court would examine the claim of parliamentary privilege. Once it finds that it is within an established parliamentary privilege, the court will refuse to entertain the question because it will recognize that the exclusive privilege is the exclusive purview of the House of Commons or Parliament.

Government Operations committee  Pursuant to the Standing Orders, the documents that government departments and agencies table in the House of Commons must be in both official languages. In accordance with this practice, there is a time-honoured tradition of departments and agencies submitting documents to committees in both official languages.

Government Operations committee  Essentially, the documents tabled in the House of Commons must be in both official languages. If documents were not provided in both official languages to a committee, the committee could simply report that to the House and request that the documents be tabled there. That would be the process.

Government Operations committee  Yes, indeed.

Government Operations committee  Through you, Mr. Chair, thank you for the question. As I indicated in my opening remarks, the power to send for documents and papers is rooted in the Constitution. It is constitutional in nature, and will prevail over ordinary statutes unless there's an explicit provision that would override privilege.

Public Accounts committee  In terms of confidentiality, because the committee feels that it's an in camera document, any leak of the wording of the motion could constitute a breach of privilege, and hence contempt of Parliament. Any member doing so could be severely sanctioned.

Public Accounts committee  It's really in committee, and then in the House of Commons…

Public Accounts committee  From a legal standpoint, it's a power that can be exercised by the House of Commons, a power that entitles it to examine unredacted documents.

Public Accounts committee  The power to send for records is part of the parliamentary privileges of the House of Commons. Privileges are written in the Constitution, so they're constitutional in nature. They are legal and constitutional. They're also recognized by the Parliament of Canada Act, and per section 5 of the Parliament of Canada Act, it's expressly stated that they're part of the law of the land of Canada.

Public Accounts committee  I heard references to the power to compel the production of documents and the committees. This is a power that is delegated by the House, and the committee has a right to compel the production of unredacted documents. Now, the committee can hear concerns and put in place safeguards or measures with the view to protect confidentiality, and from the reading of the motion that the committee is debating, which is before the committee, measures with that purpose are proposed.

Public Accounts committee  As you indicated, committees have the power to send for records and papers. This power is absolute. That said, once concerns are raised respecting the confidentiality or sensitive nature of documents, the committee, of course, can put measures in place with a view to protect the confidentiality of the information.