Canada’s Access to Information System ‘Continues to Have Flaws’: Federal Report

Conservative MP John Brassard rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 4, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

In an effort to prevent federal censorship of public records, the Commons access to information committee is requesting that Ottawa conduct a system overhaul so that Canadians can obtain the information they need to hold the government to account.

As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the committee says Canada’s access to information system “continues to have flaws” and that the federal government needs to conduct a “comprehensive review and overhaul” of it.

“Most witnesses confirmed that an effective access to information system is essential in a modern democracy. Many of the witnesses also believe that the current system is inadequate. Two witnesses indicated that the status quo is unacceptable,” said the committee in its report, titled “The State of Canada’s Access to Information System,” submitted to the House of Commons on June 20.

The committee undertook the study last October after Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard appeared before its members five months earlier and presented “a rather bleak picture of the state of access to information in 2022.”

“It held 11 public meetings, during which it heard 42 witnesses. A few witnesses, including the Information Commissioner, appeared twice,” the report said.

Among its recommendations, the committee proposed a ban on the use of “personal emails or encrypted applications” by federal employees when conducting public business.

It also recommended the mandatory disclosure of all public spending, and a requirement “that the Government of Canada implement a process for the automatic release of historical documents that are more than 25 years old.”

Under current practice, cabinet records are under seal for up to 38 years.

‘Broken System’

Conservative MP John Brassard, the chair of the committee, said the country’s access to information system “is broken.”

“I hope this report reflects the seriousness of the current state of the access to information system,” Brassard told Parliament on June 20. “The recommendations in this report are meant and designed to fix what is a broken system.”

The report proposed to limit the time extension allowable for federal agencies to respond to requests to a maximum of 60 days unless an exception was given by the information commissioner. In addition, “fines or penalties” should be imposed when the involved agencies “are late in delivering responses to requests.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on June 13 that he was committed to access to information.

“We recognize there is always more to do,” he said. “Transparency is an important part of building confidence for Canadians in their governments.”

In his mandate letters to cabinet ministers in 2019, Trudeau urged them to “continue to raise the bar on openness, effectiveness and transparency in government.”

“This means a government that is open by default,” he wrote.

Asked by a reporter on June 13 why he hasn’t lived up to the “big promises” he made in 2015 to be more transparent on documents, Trudeau said his government was the first in decades to “actually modernize access to information.”

“That’s something we committed to in 2015, and we moved forward with updating access to information,” he replied.

Witnesses testifying before the committee on Dec. 7, 2022, said waiting years for the release of public records was commonplace.

“Less than 5 [percent] of all requests filed in 2021 came from the media. That’s half the level of five years earlier, and a third of a decade ago,” said Dean Beeby, a retired Canadian Press reporter.

“Why are reporters giving up? It’s because, as study after study has shown, turnaround times are terrible and getting worse.”

“What is your longest outstanding Access to Information request?” asked Conservative MP Michael Barrett.

“Ten years,” Beeby said.