Policy 9.8 - Security of Cabinet Documents

Effective Date: 15-Apr-96
Responsible Branch: Corporate Policy and Planning Branch

Management Services Volume Table of Contents | Amendment Log

Scope

This policy addresses the tracking and secure handling of Cabinet documents within the Ministry of Forests.

Definition of Cabinet Documents

Documents considered to be Cabinet documents include:

• Cabinet and Treasury Board submissions, both draft and final (signed) versions
• letters, memos, and reports to the Chair of Treasury Board and Secretary to Treasury Board
• agendas, minutes, decision letters of Cabinet and its committees
• regulations and other Orders-in-Council prior to release
• requests for legislation and draft legislation
• financial impact assessments
• memoranda regarding confidential work for the consideration of Cabinet
• briefing material, presentations, communications strategies related to Cabinet and Treasury Board submissions, findings of polls, surveys or other studies on matters, and any other documents which may be subject to Cabinet consideration.

These documents must be considered confidential and high security.

Policy

Responsibility for Security of Cabinet Documents

The Procedures for Security of Cabinet Documents directive, issued by Cabinet Planning Secretariat in January 1996, makes Deputy Ministers accountable for the security of Cabinet document handling systems in their respective ministries and Minister's offices.

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Management Services, has been appointed Ministry Security Officer by the Deputy Minister, to ensure government security requirements are met.

When the Ministry is developing/drafting Cabinet documents, the originating branch is the OPR (the Office of Prime Responsibility, or the office which has primary responsibility for a category of records or holds the master copy of any record series). During this period, the originating branch is responsible for all processes and procedures for security.

Once Cabinet documents have been finalized, Cabinet Operations is the OPR for Cabinet and Planning Board submissions; Treasury Board Staff is the OPR for Treasury Board submissions.

The Ministry's Cabinet submissions will be filed in a central, secure location in Corporate Policy and Planning Branch; and the Ministry's Treasury Board submissions will be filed in a central, secure location in Financial Management Branch. Copies of submissions should not be retained in the originating branch.

All Cabinet submissions that are developed by the Ministry must be tracked by the Cabinet Document Coordinator, Corporate Policy and Planning Branch.

The tracking system will record:

• all Ministry submissions to Cabinet or Cabinet Committees
• all Ministry Orders-in-Council
• who has accessed Cabinet documents from the central files

The Cabinet Document Coordinator will report on a regular basis to the Ministry Executive Committee on the status of all submissions and Orders-in-Council.

The Cabinet Document Coordinator will maintain files of agendas, minutes, and decision letters relating to items reviewed by Cabinet and Cabinet Committees.

All Treasury Board submissions and decisions, correspondence, and reports for the Chair and/or Secretary of Treasury Board must be tracked by the Manager, Budget Services, Financial Management Branch.

The tracking system will record:

• all Ministry submissions, correspondence, and reports to the Chair and/or Secretary to Treasury Board
• who originated the Treasury Board document
• who has accessed Treasury Board documents from Financial Management Branch files

The Manager, Budget Services, will report on a regular basis the status of all Treasury Board documents.

Financial Management Branch will maintain files of decision letters relating to items reviewed by Treasury Board.

In exceptional circumstances, a copy of Ministry Cabinet or Treasury Board submissions may be provided to staff on a need-to-know basis. A record will be maintained of individuals who hold copies of submissions and each individual must acknowledge that they are responsible for its security. All such copies must be returned to the Cabinet Document Coordinator or the Manager, Budget Services, as appropriate.

Care and Custody, Duplication of Cabinet Documents

During the development of Cabinet documents, staff in originating branches must ensure that the documents are not left unattended unless locked away in secure storage, and Cabinet documents should be handled in such a manner that they cannot be read or accessed by unauthorized people.

Duplication must be limited and tracked by the originating branch. Previous drafts and copies must be destroyed when superseded by a new draft or copy of the document. Final versions should not be copied or duplicated.

Staff in originating branches must ensure that Cabinet documents intended for shredding must be disposed of by an authorized person at the end of each business day.

A copy of the final Cabinet document must be stored in Corporate Policy and Planning Branch by the Cabinet Document Coordinator, and a copy of the final Treasury Board document must be stored in Financial Management Branch.

Cabinet submissions, Treasury Board submissions, agendas, minutes, or decision letters must not be copied within the Ministry or stored in branch files.

Access to Cabinet documents and decisions, and Treasury Board documents and decisions, must be limited to those who "need to know" as identified by the Deputy Minister.

Access to Cabinet documents stored in Corporate Policy and Planning Branch will be tracked by the Cabinet Document Coordinator. Access to Treasury Board documents stored in Financial Management Branch will be tracked by the Manager, Budget Services.

Physical Security

In general, Cabinet documents should not be removed from the high security environment of the office.

The physical environment of offices in which Cabinet documents are prepared is the responsibility of the Branch Director. Branches should have appropriate locked storage; building security, particularly after hours; and access to machinery which shreds Cabinet documents to the extent that the documents can no longer be read.

Staff who transport Cabinet documents or who must work on them outside of the office are directly responsible for safeguarding the information.

Fax machines should not be used to transmit confidential documents. If it is essential for operational reasons to use fax machines, the sender and receiver of the confidential document should stand by the machines until transmission is complete, or encrypted machines can be used.

E-mail is not to be used to convey confidential information.

All personal computers must be password-protected.

Unattended computers must be logged-off or in a locked state requiring a password for re-activation.

All diskettes containing Cabinet documents must be stored in a secure and locked location and tracked in such a way that prior versions are deleted when superseded. Back-up procedures and security should be used for the current document.

Cabinet documents should not be developed or stored on a LAN and should not be transmitted electronically to other workstations.

Branches should minimize the involvement of consultants in the development of Cabinet documents. However, where this is unavoidable, all consultant contracts must contain a confidentiality clause (which includes the following key element - "The contractor will treat as confidential any information obtained as a result of the agreement unless the prior consent of the authorized Ministry representative is received"). Branches must also advise any consultants involved in the development of Cabinet documents or material for use in Cabinet deliberations of specific expectations concerning the security of Cabinet documents.

Process

Ministry staff must contact the Ministry Cabinet Document Coordinator or Manager, Budget Services, when beginning developmental work on any document which will clearly become a Cabinet or Treasury Board document so that an identifier can be assigned to the document and it can be entered into the appropriate tracking system.

Similarly, the Cabinet Document Coordinator or Manager, Budget Services, must be advised when the Ministry executive determines that matters discussed in a briefing note are likely to proceed to Cabinet, and the document should be entered on the tracking system.

The originating branch developing the Cabinet document is responsible for maintaining the tracking trail for the document in the developmental phase.

Copies of draft Cabinet documents shared with other ministries or agencies must be logged out to an individual within that other organization and tracked by the program staff developing the submission.

Recipients of logged-out copies of a draft Cabinet documents must be advised by covering memorandum to return prior versions of the documents to the originator each time a revised draft is received.

All Cabinet submissions and Treasury Board documents should bear a header or footer stating that the material is strictly confidential, and also the date and draft number.

Freedom of Information Requests

Information that would reveal the deliberations of Cabinet or any of its Committees, including advice, recommendations, policy considerations, draft legislation, or regulations must be withheld under section 12 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOI Act).

Any requests for information under the FOI Act that include a Cabinet or Treasury Board document must be referred to the Ministry's Information and Privacy Section. Staff in the Information and Privacy Section, in conjunction with the Cabinet Documents Coordinator or Manager, Budget Services, will refer the requests for the release of the documents to the Premier's Office, which is solely responsible for the release of those portions of Cabinet documents that can be released.

Breach of Security

Any breaches, or suspected breaches, of security are to be reported immediately to the Ministry's Security Officer, who will subsequently inform the Deputy Minister and the Government Security Officer.

A breach of security is deemed to have occurred when, for example, a Cabinet document has gone missing or there appears to have been unauthorized entry to, or attempts to enter, computer networks or containers storing Cabinet documents.

The Ministry's Security Officer will be responsible for investigating, and appropriately responding to security breaches.

The Deputy Minister will assess the information which may have become public through the breach and prepare for media questions.

References

• Procedures for Security of Cabinet Documents directive, issued by Cabinet Planning Secretariat, January 3, 1996.