July 10, 2025

July 10, 2025

9:30 a.m. to noon

Virtual Meeting

Members:

• Janine Sherman, External member – Chair
• André Grondines, External member (regrets - documents reviewed and comments provided in advance of meeting)
• Caroline Maynard, Information Commissioner

Secretary to the Committee:

• Michael Walsh, Financial Management Advisor

Regular attendees:

• France Labine, Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, Strategic Planning and Transformation Services, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Audit Executive (CAE)

Senior Management Committee:

• Layla Michaud, Deputy Commissioner, Investigations and Governance
• Marie-Josée Montreuil, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Legal Services and Public Affairs
• James Ellard, Senior Director, Public Affairs

Guests:

• Sébastien Lafond, Senior Director, Information Management, Audit, Finance, Procurement, Administration and Security and Deputy Chief Financial Officer (DCFO)
• Dominic St-Jean, Acting Director, Information Technology
• Catherine Lapalme, Principal, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Meeting Summary

• Approval of Minutes
• Approval of 2024-25 AEC Annual Report
• Approval of 2024-25 CAE Annual Report
• Presentation of the results of the Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise
• Presentation on the work done to resolve overpayments caused by Phoenix
• Updates from the Sectors

1. Welcome and Opening Remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Commissioner provided an update on the impact on OIC related to the Government's recently announced Comprehensive Expenditure Review. She indicated that the OIC and all Agents of Parliament are exempt from the spending reductions to protect their independence. As always, the OIC will ensure that funds are spent in a responsible manner. She also indicated that the Government's planned legislative review of the Access to Information Act is underway.

2. Minutes and Action Items from previous Meeting

The minutes for the April 23rd meeting, the action items from the pervious meeting, and the 2025 Forward Calendar were approved.

Action item:

• Small edits to be made to the minutes before publishing on the OIC website.

3. AEC Charter & AEC Annual Report

It was agreed that no changes are required to the AEC Charter for 2025.

The Chair summarized the Committee's work over the last year and thanked OIC's employees for the support provided to the Committee. The AEC Annual Report was approved with several small edits were proposed.

Action item:

• Minor wording changes will be made in the AEC Annual Report before publishing on the OIC website.

4. CAE Annual Report

The CAE summarized the internal audit and evaluation work done at the OIC over the last year.

Action item:

• CAE Annual Report to be posted on the OIC website.

5. Results of Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise

Dominic presented the results of Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise concluded with PCO along with other key IT security initiatives with the focus to prioritize into OIC Cybersecurity action and investment plans. There was also a discussion of the financial and staffing challenges for IT teams in small organizations like the OIC.

Action item:

• None

6. Update on Over Payments caused by Phoenix

Sébastien presented an update on the work performed to resolve over payments caused by the Phoenix pay system. He highlighted that the Finance and HR teams with the assistance of PSPC through an MOU have addressed many large dollar and older files in the year. In addition, many of the significant balances relate to issues from the early years of Phoenix and/or relate to pay files transferred to the OIC. OIC expects that most of the remaining files will be assessed over 2025-2026 along with TBS instructions on how to process write-offs for transactions that are no longer expected to be recovered.

Action item:

• None

7. Corporate Services Update (including strategic plan and budget allocation)

France presented an update on the 2025-26 budget allocation. She also presented a summary of the OIC's proposed changes to its performance indicators for 2026-27.

Action item:

• None

8. Investigations Update

Layla presented the Investigation Sector's results for 2024-25. She highlighted the OIC's ability to continue to reduce the size of the number of complaints in the inventory. She also indicated that the Investigation Sector is planning to work with the IT team to explore options for automation of time-consuming manual tasks.

Action item:

• None

9. Legal Services Update

Marie-Josée highlighted the significant increase in the volume of litigation over the last several years. The Commissioner highlighted that a goal for 2025-26 is for the Legal Services team and the IT team to work together to see what tools or processes are available to automate or streamline the work of the Legal Services team.

Action item:

• None

10. Public Affairs Update

James highlighted that the 2024-25 Annual Report was published and tabled in Parliament. He also summarized the major Parliamentary and Stakeholder Relations activities undertaken by the OIC.

Action item:

• None

In Camera Session

An in-camera session was held

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2025.