Government Operations committee  It's an hours in the day issue. You have to go back, I suppose, and figure out exactly when those authorities were granted and ask whether conditions have changed. You make a very good point. If those things are done automatically every year without any scrutiny, or very little scrutiny—

Government Operations committee  Well, I think I touched on it a little in the sense that the Treasury Board has done a good job in the last 10 years in trying to make the data more usable in terms of putting in multi-year information. We never even used to have that; you used to have to go and look at previous years.

Government Operations committee  Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that we not change just because we've done it that way. In terms of technology, we're not talking about simply putting the blue book online. We're talking about arranging the data in such a way that people can go at it from as many different perspectives as exist.

Government Operations committee  I haven't looked at the way other governments do it, but I'm certainly more familiar with how business collects intelligence, and its use of technology is extensive. Certainly I have to believe that you could just transfer over some of those principles and applications, but again I say it's not simply automating the print-based material; it's allowing Canadians to go online and look at data and be able to come up with extraction analytical tools that can tell them what they want to know, as the other witness was talking about.

Government Operations committee  It certainly is an issue, I think, because the costing information isn't aligned to the same time period; as I said, it's very easy to miss the big picture for that reason. First of all, the financial cycle, the time, is mandated through the standing orders, but because of budget secrecy, it wasn't possible for the government to put out the contents of the budget and have that information available at the same time.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I sincerely want to thank the committee for the invitation to participate as a witness in your review of the process for considering estimates and supply. I guess I'm one of those rare people who actually really likes estimates. I've studied them extensively.

Information & Ethics committee  It is an issue that needs discussion. For clarity, my point had more to do with non-corporate boards. I think corporations are in a position to decide what structure they use for their government relations, and clearly, corporate board members are paid above expenses. What I was talking about is associations, non-profits.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not. The legislation is.

Information & Ethics committee  As soon as they're paid, and part of their job is advocacy, the 20% rule doesn't apply, so you can't make the argument that it's only a little bit of what they do. If it is any of what they do and they are paid a dime, now they are covered by the same rules as I am, and I do it full-time.

Information & Ethics committee  On the other side of that, let's say you get a volunteer board that is extremely effective and well positioned to effect policy change. They don't have to register because they are not paid. That is an anomaly that needs to be looked at, at least.

Information & Ethics committee  I think they need to be considered if they are engaging in trying to influence the outcome of decision-makers. I guess the logic is why would you not include them? Again, I don't have an answer for that. They're there for some reason. They obviously have an interest in this. It may not be directly financial, but you can't minimize the impact they're having on the process.

Information & Ethics committee  Oh, no. If I left you with that impression, I apologize. That's not the case at all. Every time I file a communication report, it lists exactly who I'm acting on behalf of. It couldn't be clearer. You can go into that lobby registry and you can find out from consultant lobbyists exactly who is working for whom and what meetings they've had for those people.

Information & Ethics committee  First, to clarify, when I got out of politics, it was only a one-year rule. It wasn't five. It's like anything else: There are probably some people who will have influence for the rest of their lives, just because of their personalities and who they are, and there are some people who don't have any influence two seconds after they leave the building.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm a graduate of it.