Working-Level Committees and Groups

International Affairs Committee

Leads:

1. Lara Ives, Executive Director, Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs Directorate (PRPA)
2. Danièle Chatelois, Manager, PRPA

Function: Information-sharing Body

Overview

• The International Affairs Committee helps coordinate the OPC’s multiple international commitments and relationships. It also helps to identify synergies, collaborative opportunities and avoiding duplication.
• Monthly meetings provide debriefs on past and upcoming international engagements.

Further reading

• Terms of Reference
• Development Updates
• Meeting Minutes of February 18, 2022.

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Parliamentary Affairs Committee

Leads:

1. Yves Lessard, Parliamentary Affairs Officer, Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs (PRPA)
2. Leslie Fournier-Dupelle, Manager, PRPA

Function: Information-sharing Body

Overview

• The Parliamentary Affairs Committee discusses bills, studies, and committee appearances of relevance to the OPC.
• The Committee meets biweekly when Parliament is in session or when there is new information to share.
• The membership is comprised of one representative from every sector or directorate, who disseminates any relevant information to their colleagues.

Further reading

• There is no Terms of Reference for the Committee.

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Social Committee

Chairs: Melissa Kenny and May Turcot

Function: Socializing Body

Overview

• The Social Committee presents employees with varied, regular opportunities to engage with each other in a social capacity. It fundraises for OPC-wide activities and uses collected funds responsibly and equitably to the benefit of all employees.
• Since May 2021, the Committee has run regular virtual informal lunchtime sessions under the title “Le Lunch Club” where staff presents on a topic of their choice, followed by a discussion amongst participants.

Commissioner’s role

• For large events such as the annual Holiday Party, the Commissioner participates with a few opening remarks.

Further reading

• Terms of Reference (not yet ratified)
• Le Lunch Club

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Managers Forum

Co-Chairs: Nicole Frantz and Jessy Madouka

Function: Information-sharing Body

Overview

• The Managers Forum was created in 2018 to actively promote information sharing among the OPC’s non-executive managers across all sectors.
• It is a medium for both horizontal sharing among managers, and for senior management to share information affecting managers.
• The two co-chairs provide secretariat duties and serve terms lasting one year, with a new co-chair nominated by the sector heads every six months.

Commissioner’s role

• The Forum is under the authority of the Executive Management Board (EMB), which the Commissioner chairs. The Deputy Commissioner of the Corporate Management Sector is currently the liaison between the Forum and the EMB.

Further reading

• Terms of Reference

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Data Governance Working Group

Leads:

1. David Bynoe, Information Management & Information Technology Directorate (IM/IT)
2. Thibault Lacroix, Manager, IM/IT

Function: Recommending Body

Overview

• The Data Governance Working Group exists to ensure the ongoing maintenance and curation of data quality within the OPC, across all repositories. Data stewards from across the OPC gather within a horizontally collaborative environment where they discuss, implement, and adopt new measures to address outstanding data quality issues regarding existing data sets, to reduce costs and to increase effectiveness through coordination of efforts.
• The Group’s efforts shape the OPC’s overall data governance strategy. This uniform governance approach successfully streamlines the decision-making process while adhering to all applicable laws, regulations, and standards.

Further reading

• There are no Terms of Reference for the Group.
• OPC Data Governance Framework
• Meeting minutes of March 28, 2022

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Privacy Accountability Working Group

Chair: Sue Lajoie, Chief Privacy Officer

Function: Recommending Body

Overview

• The OPC’s Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) provides advice and guidance to Senior Management, managers, supervisors and employees of the OPC with respect to the treatment of personal information within the OPC.
• The mandate of Privacy Accountability Working Group is for members from across the OPC to support the CPO in their functions by providing expert advice from their directorates’ areas of expertise during monthly meetings.
• An additional objective is to ensure alignment between the OPC’s internal policies and what the OPC expects and ask of other institutions from a privacy perspective.

Commissioner’s role

• The Committee, via the CPO, will report on its activities to the Executive Management Board (EMB), which the Commissioner chairs.

Further reading

• Terms of Reference
• Agenda

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Privacy Act Liaison Meeting

Chair: Members of the Privacy Act Research Team in the Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs Directorate chair PALM. The current leads are Chris Prince, Gabriel Bibeau-Picard, and Alison Lorimer.

Function: Information-sharing Body

Overview

• The Privacy Act Liaison Meeting (PALM) is a forum in which to share information on Privacy Act monitoring and enforcement.
• The following directorates participate:
  1. Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs;
  2. Privacy Act Compliance;
  3. Compliance, Intake and Resolution;
  4. Technology Analysis;
  5. Government Advisory; and
  6. Communications.

Further reading

• There are no Terms of Reference for PALM.