PACP Committee Report

The Honourable Shawn Murphy, M.P.
Chair of the House of Commons Standing
Committee on Public Accounts
House of Commons
Ottawa (Ont.) K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Murphy:

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased, on behalf of the Government of Canada, to provide the Government’s response to your committee’s twenty-second report, The Power of Committees to Order the Production of Documents and Records.

On December 3, 2009, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts tabled its 22nd report, entitled The Power of Committees to Order the Production of Documents and Records.  In its report, the committee asserts that its power to send for persons, papers and records, delegated to it by the House of Commons in Standing Order 108, is without limits and not affected by any statutory provision by virtue of parliamentary privilege.  A news release from the committee on the same day conveyed the position of the committee more succinctly, stating that “Parliamentary committees have an absolute and unfettered right to receive documents and records from witnesses.”  The Government of Canada respectfully disagrees with the assertions of the committee and the recommendations it has put forward in its 22nd report.

In the case that led to the adoption of the 22nd report by the Public Accounts Committee, officials from the Department of Public Works and Government Services agreed to provide the committee with audiocassettes of consultations conducted by the Department.  On review, the Department found that the cassettes included personal information protected by the Privacy Act, a statute enacted by Parliament.  Because the committee insisted on receiving an unredacted version of the audiocassettes, the department sought and obtained the consent of participants and the unredacted audiocassettes were provided to the committee.

The Government believes that the departmental officials acted lawfully and diligently in these circumstances and that the House and Canadians should be concerned with the committee’s exercise of a claimed privilege in these particular circumstances.  Necessity is the principle that underlies parliamentary privilege, which itself is “a gift from the electorate” to safeguard their rights.^[1]  In the Government’s view, even if privilege were to extend so far, a very strong justification would be required for demanding the personal information of individual citizens, which in this case comprised twelve seconds of tape.  In the same vein, the supplementary opinion of the 22nd report raises concerns that the committee “did not consider the public interest when demanding the production of these audiocassettes.”   Regardless of the scope of the committee’s powers, the Government believes that parliamentary committees and all parliamentarians should, as a general principle and as a matter of convention, exercise restraint in the exercise of their privileges, particularly when the interests of individual citizens are affected.^[2]

The Public Accounts Committee’s request for a Government response to its 22nd report is welcomed as it provides an opportunity for the Government to state its views on the powers of committees to order the production of government documents, which are articulated in the attached text.  While the Government and the committee may differ in opinion regarding whether an absolute power exists, the Government believes that both can agree on the idea that a cooperative and open relationship between the Government and parliamentarians is of benefit to Canadians and the public interest.

The Government thanks the Committee for its report and expresses its continued commitment to openness and cooperation in relations between the executive and legislative branches of parliamentary government.

Yours sincerely,

Hon. Rob Nicholson, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Hon. Jay Hill, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons