About
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics studies and reports on matters referred to it by the House of Commons, or on topics the Committee itself chooses to examine. It is a permanent committee established by the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. Bills, departmental activities and spending, and other matters related to the general subject matter of the Committee may be referred to it. In 2004, the House of Commons concurred in the 20th report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which established the Committee’s mandate.
Under Standing Order 108(3)(h), the Committee’s mandate is to study matters related to reports of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada and the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, pursuant to the Conflict of Interest Act.
Detailed information on the role and powers of committees may be found in the Compendium of House of Commons Procedure and in Chapter XIII of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons.