Canada’s information watchdog is voicing concerns the federal government doesn’t have a system in place to deal with Access to Information requests when a department closes down.
In a document obtained through access to information, Suzanne Legault, the Information Commissioner of Canada, said in a letter to Treasury Board President Tony Clement in April 2013 the system lacks “clear transitional measures” and at least once a closure infringed on the rights of a document requester.
Access to information is a transparency system that allows the public to access government documents through filing requests.
Legault cited 16 closed or merged departments which could run into this problem, ranging from the Pension Appeal Board to the Wheat Board, and said she is starting a review to see if any other institutions could be affected.
Clement’s office, which oversees the access to information system, wrote back dismissing the problem, saying when a department closes the Librarian and Archivist of Canada takes control of those documents.
It said when institutions are closed or joined, “the existing Records Disposition Authorities, as issued by Library and Archives Canada, survive and continue to apply within the new organization.”
In an emailed statement, Legault said she’s concerned it still doesn’t seem as if “sufficient safeguards” have been put in place to “ensure the integrity of the public’s right of access to information held by the institutions that have been wound down or amalgamated.”
The issue originally arose when the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development closed and a requester couldn’t get their documents.
Since then, some of those documents have gone to Library and Archives Canada, while others went to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Ann Curry, a professor in Communication and Technology at University of Alberta who studies access to information and privacy, said Library and Archives shouldn’t have to deal with old access request files from closed departments.
“They’ve been so gutted with their staff and programs that they can’t cope,” she said.
“Having that government department absolve itself of responsibility by putting it on Library and Archives Canada, which they themselves are not funding, I think is a shameful situation.”
She also cited lack of funding for information management in departments as a key problem in this area.
“We should listen to our information and privacy professionals,” Curry said. “They have called for a close look at our access to information laws and privacy laws and said they’re out of date, and I agree.”
Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, says this issue shows problems with the access to information system but much more basic concerns should take front seat.
He said the scope of the law is too limited, exceptions are too broad, not all aspects of government are covered and there are no clear and fixed time lines for getting documents back.
“There’s no limit to the amount of time public bodies can give themselves to respond to a request. The courts are allowing more than three year extensions. That’s something I think the average guy on the street can understand is ridiculous.”
His organization puts out a joint rating of countries’ access to information laws, which ranks Canada as 55th in the world, out of 92 countries for its access to information legislation.
Mendel said the law was first adopted in 1982 and considered progressive at the time, but nothing substantial has changed since then.
“In a nutshell, it’s very weak.”
Documents obtained through Access to Information (see notes for relevant pages):
A 2013 00011 AM (Text)
Access to Information correspondence with other departments and levels of government: