Canada
What's New
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16 December 2011
Various Open Government Partnership countries have starting holding public consultation on their national action plans, according to reports culled from the media, tweets, and government announcements.
News on this front includes:
- Latvia starting a working group,
- Tanzania posting…
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6 October 2011
The sometimes discordant relationship between traditional advocates of freedom of information and the champions of open data was on display during several sessions Oct. 5 at the 7th… International Conference of Information Commissioners in Ottawa, Canada.
One Canadian open
Read more news….
freedom of information
The 1982 Access to Information Act provides Canadian citizens and other permanent residents and corporations in Canada the right to apply for and obtain copies of records held by government institutions. The institution must reply in 30 days. The courts have ruled that the Act is “quasi-constitutional.”
Records can be withheld under numerous exemptions. Documents designated as Cabinet confidences are excluded from the Act and are presumed secret for 20 years.
“There is wide recognition that the Act, which is largely unchanged since its adoption, is in need of drastic updating,” wrote David Banisar, and most FOI experts agree.
Appeals of withholding are made to The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada. The Commissioner receives complaints and can investigate and issue recommendations but does not have the power to issue binding orders. It can ask for judicial review if its recommendation is not followed.
LEARN MORE: in-depth overview | news archive | further reading | excerpt from Global Survey
News Archive
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27 September 2011
Response time to freedom of information varies among the Canadian provinces, according to the latest version of The National Freedom of Information Audit, sponsored by Newspapers Canada.
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon were the fastest responders, while British…
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18 May 2011
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the daily agenda of the prime minister is not disclosable under the Access to Information Act.
Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault.criticized the ruling that such documents are not subject to the act, and…
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13 May 2011
The Canadian Journalists for Fee Expression have given the government an “F-“ for access to information.
A new report by the group rates more than half of federal agencies as below average and says five failed outright. Further, 44 percent…
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8 April 2011
Three Canadian groups have asked the political parties to say what they will do to fix an access to information system that the groups say is “in chaos.”
“In the campaign so far, politicians have used words like open government,…
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11 March 2011
There were “limited gains” in the transparency of Canada’s federal institutions, according to a “report card” issued March 10 by the Information Commissioner of Canada, Suzanne Legault.
The headlines about the report emphasized the poor ratings given the Canada Post…
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19 March 2010
By Stanley Tromp
The value of a strong Access to Information Act is better demonstrated than just asserted. To counter negative claims made by bureaucrats and politicians about FOI law usage, here are summaries of Canadian news story on issues…
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20 October 2009
Madrid, Spain — Transparency NGO Access Info Europe released a report on October 20 entitled “Not Available! Not Accessible!” to coincide with the opening of the International Aid Transparency Initiative’s conference of donors and recipient governments in the Hague. The report shows…
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16 October 2009
Recommendations Called for Broad Expansion of Information Commissioner’s Mandate
Ottawa, Canada — In June 2009, the House of Commons Committee on access to information, privacy, and ethics made recommendations to modernize and expand the scope of Canada’s 26-year-old Access to Information Act.…
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28 September 2008
Washington, D.C., September 28, 2008 – Today’s celebration of International Right-to-Know Day marks a new watershed in the global reach of freedom of information laws – now on the books in more than 80 countries – and features celebrations in…
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16 May 2008
The Canadian government’s annual reporting on its activities at international financial institutions is getting better, according to the authors, and to a Canadian civil society group which recently gave the latest report its best grade ever.
The Halifax Initiative said…
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22 September 2006
UPDATE – 11 OCTOBER 2006
In response to a subsequent HCLU request, the Hungarian National Security Superintendence recently released an additional, previously secret NATO document entitled “Directive on the Security of Information,” dated 2005. The directive, enacted in support of NATO…
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22 March 2006
By Toby McIntosh
Riding a wave of transparency, the idea of encouraging Freedom of Information (FOI) laws as part of the development agenda is gaining currency, but slowly.
With research and case studies increasingly identifying transparency as a key tool…
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28 September 2005
Since 2002, freedom of information advocates around the world have been working together to promote the right of access to information for all people and recognize the benefits of transparent and accountable governments. We use this day as a way…
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11 April 2003
The World Bank is moving toward a new policy that will at least double the number of contract bidding opportunities publicized internationally, according to bank officials and business sector observers.
The change will substantially increase the visibility of bank-financed contracts…
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15 July 2002
By Thomas Blanton
Published in Foreign Policy, July/August 2002
During the last decade, 26 countries have enacted new legislation giving their citizens access to government information. Why? Because the concept of freedom of information is evolving from a moral indictment…
navigation
in-depth overview | news archive | further reading | excerpt from Global Survey
links
LEGAL DOCUMENTS
Access to Information Act, C. A-1
C-36, Anti-Terrorism Act
Treasury Board, Policy on the Management of Government Information, May 1, 2003
Privacy Act. R.S. 1985, c. P-21
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
Security of Information Act, c. O-5
GOVERNMENT
Information Commissioner of Canada
Access to Information Review Task Force
Privacy Commissioner
Department of Justice Canada, Access to Information and Privacy
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, Government of Alberta
The Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Review Office
Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
Ombudsman Manitoba, Access and Privacy Division
Information and Privacy Commissioner / Ontario
Saskatchewan Justice, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Branch
Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner
Yukon Ombudsman and Information and Privacy Commissioner
Government of Yukon - Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
ORGANIZATIONS
Canadian Association of Journalists
Canadian Newspaper Association
Open Government Campaign, Democracy Watch
Access Reports (subscription service)
British Columbia Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA)
B.C. Journalists Committee for Freedom of Information
Canadian Association of Professional Access and Privacy Administrators (CAPAPA)
Professor Alasdair Roberts, research on freedom of information law
Canadian Access and Privacy Association
Online Rights Canada
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Transparency International Canada
Canada Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic
OTHER RESOURCES
Access to Information: Making it Work for Canadians (Review of Canada's ATI Act by Federal Government Task Force, 2002)
measuring openness
Freedom House, Freedom in the World, 2009
(On scale of 1-7, with 1 representing the highest level of freedom and 7, the lowest)
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1
Status: Free
Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity Report, 2008
Civil Society, Public Information and Media (rating 1-100):
87 (Strong)
World Bank, Governance Matters, 2008
(Percentile rank - indicates rank of country among all countries in the world. 0 corresponds to lowest rank and 100 corresponds to highest rank.)
1) Voice and Accountability: 95.7
2) Political Instability and Violence: 83.7
3) Government Effectiveness: 97.2
4) Regulatory Quality: 95.2
5) Rule of Law: 95.7
6) Control of Corruption: 95.7
Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index, 2009
(Relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 10 - highly clean and 0 - highly corrupt.)
CPI Score: 8.7
contributor
Stanley Tromp
Author of Fallen Behind and Independent FOI Researcher
