Key Messages

Main Estimates

• My office is operating as efficiently as possible
• Budgetary constraints limit my office’s ability to expand investigative capacity, even though service expectations continue to rise
• Legal services are operating in an increasingly demanding environment, marked by sustained growth in the volume and complexity of legal files.

Early Retirement Incentive

• Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) has recently informed us that, for organizations without a Comprehensive Expenditure Review workforce reduction target, operating budgets will be reduced by 50% of personnel savings for each employee departing through the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) program.
• My office does not have a Comprehensive Expenditure Review workforce reduction target.
• In this context, and given my office’s current financial situation, we have no flexibility to accommodate the budgetary reductions associated with an ERI application.
• As a result, my office has opted out from the ERI program. OIC employees won’t be able to avail themselves of that opportunity.

Legislative Review

• There is a broad consensus that an overhaul of the Act is needed, not just administrative tweaks. Multiple studies and reviews agree on what changes are necessary.
• I am relieved that, unlike its 2020 review, the Government appears open to making legislative changes to the Access to Information Act.
  • I am pleased that my office has been invited to provide input at this stage.
• I have concerns about the policy approaches proposed by the Government in the context of its consultation process. I communicated these concerns in a statement issued on March 6.
• The proposals lack ambition and do not reflect the seriousness of the systemic issues affecting Canada’s access to information system.
  • In several instances, the proposals appear focused on easing administrative pressures on institutions rather than on protecting and enhancing Canadians’ right to know.
  • Most notably, the consultation paper avoids the most pressing issue in the system today: unacceptable delays.
• I am concerned by proposals that could weaken the right of access, including limiting access to so-called “official records” or delaying access during emergencies.
  • As I emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic, crises do not diminish the public’s right to transparency. On the contrary, they make it even more essential.
• Ultimately, this review must result in meaningful reform that strengthens Canadians’ right to know how decisions are made and how public institutions operate.
• In the context of the ongoing legislative review, I intend to build and expand on my January 2021 recommendations as well as your committee’s 2023 report on the state of Canada’s Access to Information System.
• I will continue to press for long-overdue changes to Act, including:
  • broadening the application to include the Office of the Prime Minister and ministers’ offices;
  • subjecting Cabinet confidences to the Act;
  • limiting the application of certain exemptions, such as section 21, (advice and recommendations) and adding a public interest override provision;
  • setting out a maximum length of time for consultations needed to respond to access requests.

Confidentiality of investigations

• My investigations are confidential. I cannot comment on specific ongoing cases.