Information & Ethics committee  I can't comment about specific complaints that we would be investigating at my office right now.

Information & Ethics committee  I've seen cases where extensions have been found reasonable because of the number of documents that people asked for, but I don't know about specific cases. Really, it's on a case-by-case basis.

Information & Ethics committee  I think right now we have 11 cases that are active.

Information & Ethics committee  No, but I can come back to you with the information.

Information & Ethics committee  The Supreme Court recognized that the right of access is a quasi-constitutional right, and yes, government information belongs to Canadians, so unless there are limitations, exemptions or exclusions, that information should be provided to Canadians.

Information & Ethics committee  I've seen cases where the information should have been provided and other cases where the information was properly redacted. It really, again, depends on the case.

Information & Ethics committee  At this point, I don't see it as a priority. We are asking for legislative changes. We are asking for changes within the system. There hasn't been a lot of improvement.

Information & Ethics committee  I cannot comment on the process by which you requested those documents and on the delays, but I can tell you that under the access to information regime, clearly we've been seeing increases in timelines to respond to access requests.

Information & Ethics committee  In some cases, yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Again, I don't know what reasons are being used, under the privilege of Parliament, for not providing the information to parliamentary requests, but under the Access to Information Act, we see the use of different exemptions and we see delays in responding to access requests. Whether it's related to this particular topic or other topics, we know the system is overwhelmed right now.

Information & Ethics committee  My experience is that there's a lot more that can be done with respect to transparency.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm sorry, but about what topic?

Information & Ethics committee  With respect to your study, we received 14 complaints, and with respect to management.... So far, with respect to all complaints, we've received over 4,000 complaints in the last year.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. I'm pleased to appear before the committee for the second time this spring. My last appearance was only a few weeks ago, but a lot has happened since then. Before I take questions about the committee's study, I'd like to take a few moments to provide an update on the activities of the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you.