Louis Sebert

I haven't had any formal engagement with the public at large. I can advise, however, that around this table, the Cabinet is extremely experienced in this matter. We are very experienced and competent Ministers. We have discussed this. Our position simply is, as you have heard earlier, that the present manner of dealing with contact between Cabinet Ministers and industry is sufficient.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is actually in the section services to the public. I wonder if we could hold off the question until we reach that section. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The police attendance in the 12 communities without detachment, of course, is based on the number of complaints or concerns that are directed to the RCMP. Again, I can ask the RCMP for that information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Only to add that we do support Law Day, and clearly more needs to be done, particularly to encourage those students who are considering law as a career to follow that path. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. This government does maintain that position. We simply don't feel that is necessary as a small jurisdiction, and also there is, of course, a considerable amount of information regarding our contacts with those outside of the government that is provided. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This issue has come up before in speaking to people in the department about this very issue, whether we had the legislative capacity. Of course, legislation has to be in official languages, and so on. I asked: do we have enough people so that the lack of legislative drafters will be a problem? I am told no. So it is really a question of us getting the work to them. We believe they have the capacity to complete their tasks in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am not certain as to the exact number of days the police are there. The very nature of their patrols probably makes it better if the attendance is somewhat irregular, the point being that all communities do have police coverage. Thank you.

Perhaps I could address the overall issue of Aboriginal and affirmative action within the department. I see from the statistics supplied to me that, as at December 31st, 28.5 per cent of our employees are Aboriginal, 18.6 are Indigenous nonAboriginal, and the balance are neither Aboriginal nor nonAboriginal residents. That is the overall department. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, our government has committed in its mandate to improve access to information and the protection of privacy, which includes taking a number of steps. Today, I would like to provide an update on this work, starting with information on the comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The main purpose of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act is to make government departments and other public bodies more accountable to the public and to protect personal privacy. The act gives all members of the public the legal right to request...

I understand, really, we are talking about one legislative counsel and one administrative assistant, and so I suppose that there is some loss of capacity, but there is less work. Thank you.