Library of Parliament Committee on June 10th, 2024

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Go ahead, MP Chen.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Ivory, for being here today.

In your testimony, you stated that you worked in countries where libraries have been dismantled and destroyed. What lessons have you learned from these experiences, and how will you apply them to your work as Parliamentary Librarian?

[Christine Ivory]

Libraries, whether they are the Library of Parliament or libraries across the world, have a unique role to play in democracy, because they are fundamental to the access to knowledge and information. When heritage or historical documents are destroyed, we lose that opportunity to learn from the past, to improve and to be better.

For the Library of Parliament as a memory institution, part of the mandate is, of course, to retain that history and to make it available not only to you as parliamentarians but to Canadians to be able to learn how Canada has developed as a country and where we are going. We can't progress without having that historical knowledge.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Mrs. Ivory.

Ms. Gazan, you have the floor.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

It's nice to have you here in committee today.

You spoke a little bit about disinformation, which is certainly something that I'm very concerned about.

You also spoke about political impartiality, and I'm wondering where political impartiality might conflict with intellectual integrity, especially with the rise of alternative media sources that often report disinformation or even research things like residential school denialism.

What kind of peer-review process do you have at the Library of Parliament to ensure protection of research and fact in the Library of Parliament?

[Christine Ivory]

For the Library of Parliament, the basis of our services to you is to have trust, transparency and impartiality, so the value of peer review and quality assurance is integral to everything we do. Whether that's a short email response to documents for committees and associations or the reports and publications that we do, there is quality assurance and a review that is done.

When it comes to reports and publications, there's an extensive peer review done internally and then by the management. For publications, we have an editorial board that will vet proposals for publications before we even get to writing and issuing a publication that, at times, can be on very technical issues.

The more we go into the complexity of issues, we seek out peer review from external research organizations or scholars as required.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Mrs. Ivory.

Mr. Plamondon, you now have the floor.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mrs. Ivory, congratulations on your appointment. Given your wealth of knowledge, I have no doubt that you'll make an excellent parliamentary librarian.

My colleague, Mr. Carignan, spoke earlier about the work of our committee. Personally, I understand that your role isn't to tell us what to do. Our role is to ask you, from time to time, to help us with our work.

I would like to provide some historical background. On September 4, I will have been a member of Parliament for 40 years. I've been a member of the committee for a number of years. In some years, for example, we held international conferences with officials from the Parliament library in London, the Library of Congress in the United States and the Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale in France. We wanted to know how they worked with members of Parliament. At the time, the focus was on implementing information technology.

We hear a great deal about misinformation these days. We could consult these people to find out how they deal with misinformation. We could then ask our librarian and her team to implement some of the rules learned there and, of course, to suggest other rules.

From time to time, we've held other meetings of this nature by video conference. It was relatively inexpensive and quite practical. We held meetings, sometimes once a week, for a month or two.

I hope that the librarian will support the committee's decisions on what steps to take. I think that the committee must decide what topics to cover and how to do so.

I think that this is how you see your role, Mrs. Ivory.

Right?

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Mr. Plamondon.

Mrs. Ivory, you have the floor.

[Christine Ivory]

Yes. That's exactly how I see it.

My vision for the Library is to work closely with other partners at home and abroad. As you said, we aren't alone in having to adapt to new challenges, such as disinformation and artificial intelligence. We have a great deal to learn from our colleagues in other countries. The Library already works extensively with the United Kingdom, France and many parliaments.

We would certainly be ready to support the committee if it wanted to invite colleagues to take part in this type of conference. We would also make every effort to collaborate further. After all, we're always stronger when we support each other and learn together.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

Mr. Long, you have the floor.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you, Chair.

When Heather Lank was interviewed here in June 2018, she reiterated how important it was for the library services to obviously meet parliamentarians' needs.

I'm going to read her words:

I have always made consultations with parliamentarians central to my work, for example, by getting regular input from committee chairs and deputy chairs on how to improve services, and by reaching out to new parliamentarians to identify their needs and provide the information, training, and tools they require to be effective in their roles. If I'm confirmed as the parliamentary librarian, I would look forward to working with you and both Speakers to ensure that the needs of all parliamentarians are well understood and met.

My question to you, Ms. Ivory, is this: How, if at all, are you looking to enhance user feedback on library services?

Thank you.

[Christine Ivory]

Luckily, I've been working with Dr. Lank for a number of years under her leadership. She has done extensive work at the library on client experience. I was one of the lead executives working on developing a client experience strategy for that exact purpose. If I were to be appointed, I would be curious to see in the last year how much has evolved in that field for the library.

I think there's been some great advances in how we consult. We have an ambassador program that used to run only at a new Parliament, which is now sustained and available to all new parliamentarians and their staff. There's also been recognition that, if your employees don't know about us, that is critical, so the ambassador program is also an orientation and a consultation process with employees. I think that's critical.

We work closely with the House and Senate, obviously, to consult with the chairs of committees and associations. In my role I would ensure that I do that regularly, but also engage more with the offices of the whips, given their important role especially when it comes to, for instance, the support we give to delegations and interparliamentary affairs. Obviously, we are working very closely with the Speakers and looking to professionalize and have a more regular way of surveying parliamentarians. The U.K. and Australia do annual surveys. That could be one of the things we could explore.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

You had mentioned a few times previously the opening of Parliament. When do you anticipate that to be?

[Christine Ivory]

That's probably the multi-million dollar question. I've been away from the LTVP program for a year now, so I don't know if that deadline has changed. I would have to defer to my colleagues who are working on that at PSPC.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

We thought you had some inner news.

[Christine Ivory]

No, unfortunately I have no insider knowledge.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC]

The Centre Block will be ready in 2032. It will open in 2033.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC]

I'm a member of the working group on the long‑term vision and plan and the Centre Block rehabilitation.

[The Joint Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Oh! We finally have a definite answer. We can now get ready for the grand opening.

Are there any further questions, MPs or senators?

Thank you, Mrs. Ivory, for being here and for giving our members of Parliament and senators the opportunity to ask you a few questions.

Colleagues, the second item on today's agenda concerns future business. I suggest that the committee continue in camera.

If there aren't any objections to continuing in camera, we'll suspend the meeting for two minutes while we prepare the room.

[Proceedings continue in camera]