Information & Ethics committee  No, typically cabinet would be presented with options: “If you do this, then it's this. If you do B, then it's C.” It's not only possible, but it's common that cabinets review information that is not urging a particular course. It's the job of cabinet to make the decision. These

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, committee members, for inviting me back as a witness as you wrap up your report on access to information. Almost three years ago, the then Treasury Board president announced a review of access to information. Monsieur Duclos said in June 2020 that the review would foc

Information & Ethics committee  People much smarter than I am—lawyers, for example—will tell you that, yes, it should be considered a human right, and there is UN language to promote that. I am just a more practical person. I just think that citizens in this country need to help hold their governments to accou

Information & Ethics committee  The statistics that we need to assess the performance of individual departments are collected by Treasury Board and the departments themselves. They're already suspect. It's also a very poor data collection system methodology. Many of the statistics that we read, such as the one

Information & Ethics committee  You may be surprised to hear this, but I'm for AI. I think AI has a role in this process. I mean AI that's responsible, AI that can be audited so that we know what goes on in the black box of AI we use for this system. I don't think we should be shy about looking at that kind o

Information & Ethics committee  Do I believe that Canada is a democratic state? Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Not adequately, no. I've been around since the act came into force in 1983, and it worked relatively well then—

Information & Ethics committee  Is the government transparent in certain ways right now? I'd have to have more detail. I don't know what you mean by “in certain ways”.

Information & Ethics committee  Do you want a yes or a no?

Information & Ethics committee  No.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, as I tried to describe to you in my last appearance, the system is broken. It does not do what it was intended to do when Parliament passed it in 1982. It has been getting worse over the years. We are now at a point where journalists, for example, are abandoning it because

Information & Ethics committee  Well, again, are you asking me for a yes or a no?

Information & Ethics committee  As a point of accuracy, I didn't use the word “corruption” in my opening remarks.

Information & Ethics committee  Okay, well, last time I was here, I gave you four. If you want the number one that I gave last time, it was to reduce cabinet secrecy. It won't fix the system, but it will go a long way toward that goal.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm sorry, but I can't do a quick answer.