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The Treasury Board is one of four Cabinet
committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. It was
established constitutionally in 1867 and given statutory powers
in 1869. The President of the Treasury Board heads this
committee.
As the administrative arm of the Treasury Board,
the Secretariat has a dual mandate: to support the Treasury Board
as a committee of ministers and to fulfil the statutory
responsibilities of a central government agency. It is headed by
a Secretary-Comptroller General who reports to the President of
the Treasury Board.
The Secretariat recommends and provides advice to
the Treasury Board on policies, directives, regulations, and
program expenditure proposals with respect to the management of
the government's financial, human, and material resources. Its
responsibilities for the general management of the government
affect initiatives, issues and activities that cut across all
policy sectors managed by 22 operating departments and some 100
other organizational entities (as reported in the Main
Estimates). The Secretariat is also responsible for the
comptroller function of government and the Leadership
Network.
The main areas of activity in the central
administration cover the following: expenditure, personnel,
financial and information management.
The Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
and the Executive Director of Communications and Executive
Services (CES) have delegated authority to oversee the
administration of the Access to Information Act and the
Privacy Act within the Treasury Board Secretariat and to
ensure compliance with the legislation.
During 2001-2002, the ATIP Office continued
to provide training sessions for employees on a regular basis.
These sessions provided over 150 participants with an overview of
the Act and a better understanding of their obligations and the
process within TBS. Customized sessions were also provided to
divisional teams upon request.
A description of the classes of institutional
records held by the Treasury Board Secretariat can be found in
the 2001-2002 publications Info Source - Sources
of Federal Government Information as well as Sources of
Federal Employee Information. The Treasury Board Secretariat
does not have exempt banks.
The Info Source can be obtained through
public and academic libraries, constituency offices of federal
Members of Parliament, and on the Internet at http://www.infosource.gc.ca.
A reading room is available to individuals
wanting to review Treasury Board Secretariat publications,
contracts for temporary help services, and other public
materials. The room is situated in the departmental library, and
individuals can contact library personnel for use of the
facility. The Treasury Board Secretariat library is located
at:
L'Esplanade Laurier, East Tower,
11th Floor
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5
Telephone Number: (613) 995-5877.
During the reporting period, April 1, 2001 to
March 31, 2002, the Secretariat received a total of 219 new
requests under the Access to Information Act. Thirty-eight
(38) requests were carried over from
2000-2001. This represents an increase of 38 requests (21%)
over last year in which a total of 181 requests had been
received.
Of these 219 new requests, 54 requests (25%) were
either transferred or re-directed to other federal institutions
or could not be processed. A total of 165 requests were for TBS
records.
The Public is the largest access client group of
the TBS. During the 2001-2002 reporting period, 82 (37%) of
the 219 requests were received from this group.
The substance of the requests covered the entire
range of the Treasury Board's role as the
government's general manager and employer of the federal
Public Service.
For example, requests touched on pension plans,
real property, ATI reform, the ATI Review Task Force, Government
on-line, EX performance pay, grants and contributions, employment
equity, contracts, audits and public opinion research. As well,
information was requested on general management policies and
directives: contracting, travel and classification standards.
Responses to formal ATI requests involved the
page-by-page review of over 28, 671 pages of which over 17,754
were recommended for release. There was an 84% increase in the
number of pages reviewed over last year, which were 15,590
pages.
During this same period, the Secretariat also
received 106 consultations from other departments regarding ATI
requests involving TBS records or issues.
In addition, a total of 20 informal requests for
information (not subject to the Act) were processed by the Office
in support of the Secretariat's broader objective of
providing Canadians with relevant information on an informal and
timely basis.
The ATIP Office also acted as a resource for
Secretariat officials and offered advice and guidance on the
provisions of the legislation. The ATIP Office was consulted on
40 access issues relating to a range of matters from polls,
surveys, harassment, records management, data-matching
activities, pay, pension, health care plans, privacy caveats,
draft policies and documents for the Auditor General.
There were 207 requests completed in
2001-2002. Of the 50 outstanding requests carried forward
to the 2002-2003 fiscal year, 22 were received during the
last 31 days of the period, and the responses, therefore, were
not due until the new fiscal year.
The disposition of the completed requests was as
follows:
- 52 fully disclosed (25%);
- 71 partially disclosed (34%);
- 1 exempted in entirety (1%);
- 4 excluded in entirety (2%);
- 18 transferred to another institution (9%)
- 15 abandoned by applicants (7%); and
- 36 could not be processed (17%).
- 10 treated informally (5%)
The 207 requests in 2001-2002 were
completed in the following timeframes:
- 109 within 30 days or less (53%);
- 46 within 31 to 60 days (22%);
- 32 within 61 to 120 days (15%); and
- 20 took 121 days or over (10%).
In 51 instances, the Secretariat found it
necessary to seek an extension to the prescribed time limit to
search through a large volume of records or to consult other
government institutions or third parties.
For the requests processed in 2001-2002,
the number of requests completed within allowable time limits was
160 out of 207 or 77%.
The Secretariat invoked exemptions under the
Act a total of 150 times, as follows:
- 2 under S. 13 exempting records obtained in confidence;
- 3 under S. 14 exempting records injurious to
federal-provincial affairs;
- 1 under S. 15 exempting records expected to be injurious to
the conduct of international affairs and the defence of
Canada;
- 3 under S. 16 exempting records containing law enforcement
and investigation information;
- 12 under S. 18 exempting records expected to prejudice the
economic interests of Canada;
- 26 under S. 19 exempting records containing personal
information;
- 11 under S. 20 exempting records containing third party
information;
- 77 under S. 21 exempting records containing information
relating to the internal decision-making processes of
government;
- 1 under S. 22 exempting records containing information
relating to testing procedures, tests and audits;
- 12 under S. 23 exempting records related to solicitor-client
privilege;
- 2 under S. 26 exempting records containing information to be
published.
Exclusions were invoked 75 times under section 69
for Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
Part of the Secretariat's responsibilities is to provide
administrative support to the Treasury Board, a Cabinet
Committee, and consequently, it controls a large number of
documents classified as Cabinet Confidences.
Treasury Board Secretariat clients filed 47 new
complaints with the Information Commissioner in 2001-2002.
This represents an increase of thirty-two (32) complaints (113%)
over the 2000-2001 period in which a total of 15 complaints had
been received. This increase is attributed to 35 complaints filed
simultaneously by a single applicant.
The reasons for the complaints were as
follows:
- 34 related to time limits in processing;
- 4 related to missing records; and
- 9 concerned the exempting/excluding of information.
During this fiscal year, 12 complaint
investigations were completed and the conclusions were as
follows:
- 6 complaints were resolved/founded; and
- 6 complaints were not substantiated.
During the reporting period, the total fees
collected amounted to $865 for application fees and $2,179 for
reproduction, searching and preparation costs.
During 2001-2002, an estimated $287,725 in
salary costs and $25,000 in administrative costs were incurred by
the ATIP Office to administer both the Access to Information
Act and the Privacy Act.
These costs do not include the resources expended
by the program areas of the Treasury Board Secretariat to meet
the requirements of the Acts.
During the reporting period, April 1, 2001 to
March 31, 2002, the Secretariat received a total of 28 new
requests under the Privacy Act.
Of these 28 new requests, 24 requests (86%) were
either transferred or re-directed to other federal institutions
or could not be processed. A total of 4 requests were for
TBS records.
During this same period, the Secretariat also
responded to 2 consultations from other departments regarding
Privacy requests involving TBS records or issues.
The privacy client group for TBS consists, for
the most part, of current and former federal public servants.
Most of the requests relate to personnel issues involving
Treasury Board as the employer.
There were 27 requests completed in
2001-2002 and one request was carried forward to the
2002-2003 fiscal year.
The disposition of the completed requests was as
follows:
- 2 fully disclosed (7%);
- 1 partially disclosed (4%);
- 20 transferred or re-directed to another institution
(74%);
- 4 could not be processed (15%).
The 27 requests completed in 2001-2002 were
processed in the following timeframes:
- 25 within 30 days or less (93%);
- 2 within the 31 to 60 day period (7%).
For the requests processed in 2001-2002, the
number of requests completed within allowable time limits was 25
out of 27 or 93%.
The Secretariat invoked one (1) exemption under
S. 22 - Investigations, one (1) exemption under S. 26 as
information about another individual, and one (1) exemption under
S. 27 as Solicitor Client-Privilege.
No new complaints with the Privacy Commissioner
were registered in 2001-2002.
No request for disclosure of personal information
to an investigative body was processed by the Secretariat during
the 2001-2002 reporting period.
During 2001-2002, an estimated $287,725 in
salary costs and $25,000 in administrative costs were incurred by
the ATIP Office to administer both the Access to Information
Act and the Privacy Act.
These costs do not include the resources expended
by the program areas of the Treasury Board Secretariat to meet
the requirements of the Acts.
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