Canada to update Access to Information laws

Canada has undertaken a review of federal access to information laws. Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler tabled a series of recommendations at the House of Commons committee that studies Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. The committee next meets to discuss these issues on Tues, April 12. Information Commissioner John Reid will be the key witness in front of the committee at that time.

Here’s the key changes tabled by Minister Cotler:

• Expanding coverage under the ATIA to more Crown Corporations and other entities, such as Alternate Dispute Delivery Organizations.
• Proposing the possible extension of the ATIA to the Office of the following Agents of Parliament: the Information Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Auditor General.
• Modernizing exclusions and exemptions relating to such matters as Cabinet confidences, among others.
• Updating current Access to Information processes such as fee collection and t ime limits for processing Access to Information and Privacy requests.
• Introducing new administrative reforms such as providing specific training in information management and disclosure of information to executives and public servants, and upgrading tools to assist institutions in processing access requests or to track timelines.

The government is distributing a discussion paper that looks at the framework for these changes and has also published a more comprehensive report on the proposed changes to the federal ATI legislation.