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Tony Clement: I think the good news is that technology is our friend, and we are using it more effectively every year to open up the government. I've done a lot of speaking around the country on this issue—I get very dramatic at times—and one of the things I say is that, since the dawn of time, since individuals created collective organizations, governments have collected and hoarded information. But we live in an era, for the first time in history, where governments are pushing information out to individuals, to researchers, to NGOs, to citizens, to entrepreneurs, and I want Canada to be at the forefront of this.
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My vision is that, as we continue to pour out more data sets online, this will start to have an impact on the need for ATI requests because we'll have more of the information available online. So that's where I see this going long-term. The fact of the matter is that datasets are very useful for citizens. I'll give you a few examples of stuff that are part of our everyday lives now. You wouldn't even think of them of being 'open data' but they are. Every Canadian has a weather app on their device. So guess where the information comes from? It's from Environment Canada data. Most people have a map app on their mobile device—well the transit information, the road information, comes from municipal open data. So this is stuff that makes people's lives easier.
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Well let me just go over the stats, because they are relevant. We've released a record number of requests, released a record amount of materials, and turnaround times have generally improved. The last statistical analysis saw yearly requests processed jump to 54,000. That's a 27 percent increase over the previous year. And we released six million pages of records this year, an increase of nearly two million, so that means more access. And I think I'm quite willing to take credit for that. Our government is willing to take credit for that. Since 2006, we have expanded coverage of the system to cover over 200 institutions including crown corporations. So my point of view is that we have released more completed ATI requests than the Trudeau, Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chretien and Martin governments combined. That's a record I think we can be proud of.
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When we looked at the number of requests completed within 30 days, the percentage has increased 55 percent to 65 percent, so that shows that Canadians' right to access is healthy right now. We have increased spending on the system—it's gone up about $10 million from 2008 to 2013. That's a 20 percent increase. So we are putting the resources in there. We think the system is being managed, by virtue of the structure of the legislation, and it's being managed well. As we pour more of this online. I think the system will only improve.I understand that there's a push to create a new structure for the ATIP system, one that's more cloud-based and that would facilitate online requests. Can you run through that?
It's in the early phases, but we figure more online requests are occurring, and when you have an online platform, the format can be more user friendly for the applicant. So all that is happening. I've been pushing for the past year to get the vendor community involved about how a cloud-based information system could work. There are going to be clear rules: it has to respect privacy and it of course has to respect national security, so those are some of the challenges of any cloud based system, as we discovered in 2014. So that's an ongoing discussion. So I look forward to some of those conclusions being made in 2015.
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I would say this to every public servant: everybody has to play by the directives in places to protect Canadians privacy. They have to play by the rules. So to the extent that there are any issues with that, I think that managers have to make sure that they make sure that their public servants are adhering to the directives that are in place.Would you consider looking into that more thoroughly? Evidently this is something that has happened repeatedly and consistently.
Fair point. It's up to each department each manager and each deputy minister to be part of the solution in that respect. I can't police the entire government system on that. We do rely on each deputy minister to do his or her job. And these issues of privacy are not going to go away—we have to have the proper balance of privacy. So I think this is a fair discussion to have and we will continue to have that. And I would say that people's expectations have changed, too. Where before this wouldn't be an issue, or a media event, now it is. And that's the reality of the situation. Governments, in order to be legitimate and credible, have to strike that balance.Alright, top five albums of 2014.
Jack White —Lazaretto
Foo Fighters —Sonic Highways
St Vincent —self-titled
Royal Blood —self-titled
Black Keys —Turn BlueThanks for your time
All the best to you and your family.Interview has been edited for length and clarity.Follow Justin on Twitter.