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Results: 106 - 120 of 1860
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
Does the executive branch of government have the prerogative to withhold records duly ordered by the legislative branch?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:32
In my view, as part of the privileges of the House and the power to send for papers and persons, it's up to the committee and ultimately the House to determine what grounds it will accept as a basis for redactions. The government, in my view, does not have the unilateral right to make those determinations. It's up to the committee and ultimately the House.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
Isn't that a feature of just basic responsible government, Mr. Dufresne? If you had an executive branch that simply refused to provide documents when ordered to by the House.... Let's say on a budget or on any other feature of government they just say, “No. We have secret documents. We're not sending them to the House. It doesn't matter if the majority of the members of Parliament have demanded them.” Does that not strike at the very core of responsible government?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:33
I think what we've seen in Speakers' rulings, the ruling by Mr. Milliken and more recently the ruling by Speaker Rota, is the balancing and the mention of the House of Commons, as the grand inquest of the nation, having these privileges to send for persons and papers and the ability to make those determinations. At the same time, the executive has a responsibility as the defender of the realm. There are valid reasons and valid considerations of public policy that ought to be considered, but ultimately it's for the House to make that determination—
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
That's my question, sir.
When those two things collide, if the House is demanding production and the executive says no, who wins that battle in the end, Mr. Dufresne?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:34
Ultimately, the House has the ability to order and to make the determination. Then it has the disciplinary powers to act on it.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
You've already touched on this as well. The government consistently sends you documents that have not been translated into both official languages. Is that consistent with their obligation under the law?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:34
As I've indicated to the government and to this committee, in my view, the government has the obligation under the Official Languages Act to provide documents in both official languages.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
Let me sum up here, if I may.
You have a government that says it has millions of pages of documents—in one case millions of documents—millions of pages at the very least. They have delivered 8,500, leaving at least 992,000 documents to be disclosed. They have trickled the disclosure over seven months. They refuse to translate them. They redact them, when they're told by the House order that they're not to redact them. They use redaction criteria that are not specified.
Forgive me if I might come to the conclusion that this is a government that is deliberately delaying the production of documents to the House of Commons. Is that a fair conclusion, Mr. Dufresne, for someone to draw?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:35
I've reported to the committee on the situation and what I've received. Then it's up to the committee to make its determination as to whether it's satisfied with what has been produced and how.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
Are there any statutory obligations that you can think of, whether it's the Criminal Code, the National Security Act, the Evidence Act, any statutes at all that you are familiar with in terms of parliamentary jurisprudence that would justify any member of the government or public official refusing to produce documents to the House of Commons when demanded to do so?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:36
There are no statutes that I'm aware of that have limited the privileges of the House to send for papers and persons. There are statutes that indicate public policy considerations, and Speakers' rulings have indicated these ought to be considered by the House, but it's up to the House. There has been no limit to the privileges of the House in terms of its ability.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
This is my final question.
On October 26, 2020, federal procurement minister Anita Anand told Canadians that the office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel—that's you, sir,—wouldn't have the necessary expertise in procurement to properly redact records related to the production order.
Do you believe that you're office has the necessary expertise to carry out the redaction instructions of the House of Commons?
Philippe Dufresne
View Philippe Dufresne Profile
Philippe Dufresne
2021-06-23 17:37
We do. In terms of factual information, the government may be in possession of information, for instance, talking about the impact on contractual negotiations. The government may well be in possession of the information, which is why the approach that we've taken is that the government can propose to my office areas that it feels ought to be redacted and kept confidential. We consider those very carefully. That's how we've approached it in terms of any factual information that we would not have, the government or any party can provide it to us.
View Don Davies Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to continue on with that because it's easy to identify.... I think there are a few members of this committee who are old enough to remember Watergate in the United States. I certainly do. It's a little harder to recognize it when it's close to home.
Mr. Dufresne, I'm going to take you back to 2011, when Speaker Milliken ruled on something extremely similar to this. The House of Commons passed a motion ordering the then Harper Conservative government to produce documents to the House related to the Afghan detainee issue. When they refused, what was the finding of Mr. Milliken, sir?
Results: 106 - 120 of 1860 | Page: 8 of 124

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