Ottawa, May 11, 2006
Notes for an appearance before the legislative committee on Bill C-2
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
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Good morning.
I am very pleased to appear before your committee to comment on and answer questions about Bill C-2, the proposed Federal Accountability Act. I intend to keep my opening remarks au point, so that there is adequate time to answer questions from Committee members. I am accompanied today by Johane Tremblay, Director of Legal Affairs and Carol White, Acting Director General, Corporate Services.
I will comment briefly on four things: my role as an Officer of Parliament and the importance of strengthening the independence of the roles of all Officers of Parliament; the manner in which Officers of Parliament are confirmed in their positions; changes relating to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act; and administrative changes in the areas of internal audit and procurement.
Accountability
Firstly, I fully support the notion of strengthening the culture of accountability that underlies Bill C-2 . I also strongly support the notion, as set out by the Prime Minister in the Federal Accountability Plan, of strengthening the capacity and independence of Officers of Parliament, to hold federal departments and agencies accountable. This will ensure that Parliament has access to information and advice from the various Officers of Parliament, so that Parliament can hold government accountable.
In this regard, I am very encouraged by the Government’s announced intention to establish an all-party Parliamentary Advisory Panel on resource requirements for Officers of Parliament and to continue a two-year pilot project to give Parliament a greater role in order to respect the independence of Officers of Parliament from the government.
As Commissioner of Official Languages and one of the independent Officers of Parliament, I act as an instrument of Parliament in ensuring that organizations subject to the Official Language Act are held accountable to Parliament for fulfilling their obligations under that Act. I do this by providing Parliamentarians with appropriate information on the implementation of the Act by institutions.
Appointment Process
On the appointment process for Officers of Parliament set out in Part 2 of Bill C-2, I strongly believe that Officers of Parliament must have, and see that they have, the unequivocal support of Parliamentarians. Apart from the secret ballot, the process set out in Bill C-2 is what I experienced when I was confirmed in my position over seven years ago.
Access to Information
I also fully support the Government’s initiative to review the current scope of the Access to Information Act. While making five officers of Parliament subject to the Act, Bill C-2 acknowledges the unique role played by these officers, and the need to protect information obtained or created by them in the course of their investigations, examinations or audits.
The Commissioner of Official Languages is an agent of change and ombudsman. My role is to ensure that federal institutions comply with the intent and spirit of the Official Languages Act in administering their affairs. I receive and investigate complaints against federal institutions about their duties relating to official languages and recommend appropriate corrective measures. In my role as ombudsman, it is important that I protect both the identity of complainants and the information the investigators gather and create in the course of investigating complaints.
In order to allow the Commissioner to fulfill such mandate, Parliament has included in the Official Languages Act specific provisions pertaining to the non‑disclosure of information gathered by the Commissioner in the performance of his or her duties and functions. Therefore, I am quite satisfied with the new exemption that Bill C-2 is adding in the Access to information Act. The proposed new section 16.1 will allow the Commissioner of Official Languages to disseminate information as widely as possible without undermining the integrity, the credibility and the effectiveness of the Commissioner’s investigation, audit and examination processes. This broad dissemination of information, accomplished through such vehicles as my Annual Report to Parliament, and audits, evaluations and research studies, supports another key role I play, namely that of Agent of Change.
Privacy Act
The same underlying policy should in my view apply with respect to access to information under the Privacy Act. While the government recognizes the need of including in the Privacy Act a similar exemption than the one provided in the Access to Information Act, such non-disclosure provision would only apply to information obtained or created by the Privacy Commissioner and by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner in the course of their investigations pursuant to their enabling legislation. Since exemptions provided in the Privacy Act generally mirror those provided in the Access to Information Act, I recommend that the Committee adopt a common approach under both Acts.
More particularly, I urge the Committee to recommend that Bill C-2 be amended in order to include in the Privacy Act a mandatory exemption similar to the new proposed section 22.1 with respect to personal information obtained or created by the Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada in the course of his or her investigations, audits or examinations.
Administrative Changes
My Office will be affected by administrative changes proposed in Parts 3, 4 and 5 of Bill C-2 in such areas as further strengthening internal audit capacity, and ensuring that low-value procurements are fair, open and transparent. I support these changes and I have asked my staff to determine the resource implications of the administrative changes needed to implement these important procedures. I would anticipate that my successor will be presenting any additional funding requirements to the Parliamentary Advisory Panel on funding later this year.
In summary:
- I am encouraged by and support the proposed legislative changes to strengthen the culture of accountability and to support and strengthen the independence of Officers of Parliament, and thereby provide Parliament with the advice and information it needs to make key decisions to support change and hold departments and agencies accountable;
- With respect to the new appointment process for Officers of Parliament I would stress the importance of each Officer seeing that they have strong support from parliamentarians;
- I support the proposed extension of the Access to Information Act to my Office and the specific exemptions set out in Bill C-2;
- I would urge the committee to recommend that Bill C-2 be amended in order to include in the Privacy Act a mandatory exemption with respect to personal information obtained or created by the Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada in the course of his or her investigations, audits or examinations ; and
- I look forward to working with the Parliamentarians who will be on the Parliamentary Advisory Panel on funding for Officers of Parliament, to ensure the continued independence of Officers of Parliament.
I thank you for your attention and I would be happy to respond to any questions from members of the Committee.
