Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Issue No. 56 - Minutes of Proceedings - February 28, 2019
OTTAWA, Thursday, February 28, 2019
(132)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs met this day at 10:35 a.m., in room C128, Senate of Canada Building, the chair, the Honourable Serge Joyal, P.C. presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Batters, Boisvenu, Carignan, P.C., Dalphond, Gold, Joyal, P.C., McCoy, McIntyre, Pratte and Ringuette (10).
In attendance: Maxime Charron-Tousignant, Analyst, Parliamentary Information and Research Services, Library of Parliament; Ben Silverman, Communications Officer, Senate Communications Directorate; Chantal Cardinal, Procedural Clerk.
Also present: The official reporters of the Senate.
Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Wednesday, June 6, 2018, the committee continued its examination of Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. (For complete text of the order of reference, see proceedings of the committee, Issue No. 49.)
WITNESSES:
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:
Ruth Naylor, Executive Director, Information and Privacy Policy Division;
Hélène Aubé, Analyst/Advisor, Information and Privacy Policy Division.
Senate of Canada:
Michel Bédard, Deputy Law Clerk and Parliamentary Council (interim), Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.
The chair made a statement.
At 10:44 a.m., it was agreed that the committee proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
The officials were invited to remain at the table and, from time to time, answer questions.
It was agreed that the title stand postponed.
It was agreed, with leave, to group clauses by 10, when appropriate.
It was agreed that clauses 1 to 4 carry, on division.
The chair asked whether clause 5 shall carry.
After debate, clause 5 was negatived, on division.
The chair asked whether clause 6 shall carry.
Debate arose thereon.
After debate, the Honourable Senator Ringuette moved:
That Bill C-58 be amended in clause 6, on page 3, by:
replacing lines 6 to 17 on page 3 with the following:
"6 Section 6 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Request for access to record
6 A request for access to a record under this Part shall be made in writing to the government institution that has control of the record and shall provide sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the institution to identify the record with a reasonable effort.'' and
adding after line 17 on page 3 the following:
''6.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 6:''.
adding after line 39 on page 3 the following:
"Time limit suspended
(1.2) If the head of a government institution communicates with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act, the 30-day period set out in section 7 — and any extension to it under section 9 — is suspended during the period beginning on the day on which the head of the institution communicates with the Information Commissioner and ending on the day on which he or she receives the Information Commissioner's decision in writing.
Notice — suspension
(1.3) The head of the institution shall give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record un-der this Part of the suspension of the period, and of the reasons for the suspension, at the same time as they communicate with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act.
Notice — end of suspension
(1.4) If the Information Commissioner refuses to give his or her approval, the head of the institution shall, on receiving the Information Commissioner's decision in writing, give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the refusal and of the date on which the running of the period resumes in accordance with subsection (1.2).''.
After debate, it was moved:
That the motion in amendment be amended in clause 6, on page 3, by replacing lines 6 to 17 on page 3 with the following:
"6 Section 6 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Request for access to record
6 A request for access to a record under this Part shall be made in writing to the government institution that has control of the record and shall provide sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the institution to identify the record with a reasonable effort.''.
After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, as amended, it was adopted.
The chair asked whether clause 6, as amended, shall carry.
Debate arose thereon.
After debate, the Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved:
That Bill C-58 be amended in clause 6,
(a) on page 3, by deleting lines 18 to 39; and
(b) on page 4, by deleting lines 1 to 4.
After debate, it was moved:
That the motion in amendment be amended in clause 6, on page 3, by deleting lines 23 to 31.
After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, as amended, it was adopted, on division.
It was moved:
That Bill C-58 be amended in clause 6, on page 3,
(a) by replacing line 36 of the English version with the following:
"ized under subsection (1) to decline to act on a per-''; and
(b) by replacing line 36 in the French version with the following:
"s'autoriser du paragraphe (1) pour ne pas donner suite à''.
The question being put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted.
The chair asked whether clause 6, as amended, shall carry.
The Honourable Senator Ringuette moved:
That Bill C-58 be amended in clause 6, on page 3,
(a) by adding after line 17, the following:
''6.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 6:'' and
(b) by adding after line 39, the following:
"Time limit suspended
(1.2) If the head of a government institution communicates with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act, the 30-day period set out in section 7 — and any extension to it under section 9 — is suspended during the period beginning on the day on which the head of the institution communicates with the Information Commissioner and ending on the day on which he or she receives the Information Commissioner's decision in writing.
Notice — suspension
(1.3) The head of the institution shall give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the suspension of the period, and of the reasons for the suspension, at the same time as they communicate with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act.
Notice — end of suspension
(1.4) If the Information Commissioner refuses to give his or her approval, the head of the institution shall, on receiving the Information Commissioner's decision in writing, give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the refusal and of the date on which the running of the period resumes in accordance with subsection (1.2).''
After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted.
After debate, it was agreed that clause 6, as amended, carry.
Before the chair asked whether clause 7 shall carry, it was agreed to continue clause by clause consideration of Bill C-58 at the next meeting of the committee.
The committee proceeded to discuss future business (draft agenda).
After debate, it was agreed that the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure seek the authorization of the Senate to hold additional hearings on this bill, if required.
At 12:37 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Shaila Anwar
Acting Clerk of the Committee