Freedom of information in Canada

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Freedom of information in Canada describes the capacity for the Canadian Government to provide timely and accurate access to internal data concerning government services. Each province and territory in Canada has its own access to freedom of information legislation.

Contents

History

By 1982, twelve countries, including France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the U.S. (1966), had enacted modern ATI legislation. [1] Canada's Access to Information Act came into force in 1983, under the Pierre Trudeau government.

In 1987, the Solicitor General tabled a unanimous report to Parliament, Open and Shut: Enhancing the Right to Know and the Right to Privacy which contained over 100 recommendations for amending the ATI and privacy acts.

In 1998, the government would append a clause to the Access Act, making it a federal offence to destroy, falsify, or conceal public documents. However, the standards for document production and retention in Canada are still considered insufficient by many scholars. [2]

In August 2000, the Ministry of Justice and the president of the Treasury Board launched a task force to review the Access Act. The committee's report, delivered in June 2002, found "a crisis in information management" within government.

Université de Moncton professor Donald Savoie’s 2003 book, Breaking the Bargain, argues that in Canada there is a reluctance to put anything in writing, including e-mail, that might find its way into public discourse.

In the fall of 2003, John Bryden, attempted to initiate a comprehensive overhaul of the Act through a private members bill, Bill C-462, [3] which died on the Order Paper with the dissolution of the 37th Parliament in May 2004. A similar bill was introduced by NDP MP Pat Martin on 7 October 2004 as Bill C-201. [4]

In April 2005, the Justice Minister Irwin Cotler introduced a discussion paper entitled A Comprehensive Framework for Access to Information Reform. [5]

On April 1, 2008, the Stephen Harper government shut down CAIRS, the access to information database. [6] He justified this decision by saying that CAIRS was "deemed expensive, [and] deemed to slow down the access to information." [7] In response, Leader of the Opposition Stéphane Dion described Harper's government as "the most secretive government in the history of our country." [7]

In September 2008, a 393-page report sponsored by several Canadian newspaper groups, compared Canada's Access to Information Act to the FOI laws of the provinces and of 68 other nations titled: Fallen Behind: Canada's Access to Information Act in the World Context. [8]

In 2009, The Walrus (magazine) published a detailed history of FOI in Canada. [9]

Federal

In Canada, the Access to Information Act allows citizens to demand records from federal bodies. The act came into force in 1983, under the Pierre Trudeau government, permitting Canadians to retrieve information from government files, establishing what information could be accessed, mandating timelines for response. [10] Any exceptions to that right of access (i.e. information that is not disclosed) is limited and specific. That means that government departments cannot simply refuse to disclose whole documents or series of documents. This is enforced by the Information Commissioner of Canada.

In general, the types of information that can be exempted from disclosure include: information that could affect federal - provincial relations; information provided to the federal government in confidence by other governments; information affecting the safety and security of individuals; information that belongs to third party private sector companies; solicitor - client privilege and information that, if disclosed, could undermine the operations of government. This is not an exhaustive list.

There is also a complementary Privacy Act , introduced in 1983. The purpose of the Privacy Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a federal government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information. Complaints for possible violations of the Act may be reported to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. However, freedom of information commissioners often lack the resources to enforce accountability. [2]

Canadian access to information laws distinguish between access to records generally and access to records that contain personal information about the person making the request. Subject to exceptions, individuals have a right of access to records that contain their own personal information under the Privacy Act but the general public does not have a right of access to records that contain personal information about others under the Access to Information Act.

From 1989 to 2008, requests made to the federal government were catalogued in the Coordination of Access to Information Requests System. Library and Archives Canada has been criticized for requiring waiting periods of as much as 80 years to access some files. [11]

The federal legislations do not apply to the provinces or territories however, these levels of government also have access and privacy legislations.

Provincial

ProvinceYearTitleResource
Nova Scotia 1977 (S.N.S. 1993, c.5). Amended 1993 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Nova Scotia) http://foipop.ns.ca//legislation
New Brunswick 2010 (S.N.B. 2009, c.R-10.6) / 2010 (S.N.B. 2009, c.P-7.05)Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act / Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act https://web.archive.org/web/20110604064231/http://www.gnb.ca/0062/acts/acts/r-10-6.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20110515070123/http://www.gnb.ca/0062/PDF-acts/p-07-05.pdf

Newfoundland and Labrador 1981 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. (R.S.N. 1990, c.F25) / 2002 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (S.N.L. 2002, c.A-1.1).Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (1981) / Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (2002) http://www.oipc.gov.nl.ca/legislation.htm
Quebec 1982 (R.S.Q., c.A-21)An Act Respecting Access to Documents Held by Public Bodies and the Protection of Personal Information http://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/index.html
Yukon 1984 (R.S.Y. 2002, c.1)Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act http://www.atipp.gov.yk.ca/
Manitoba 1985 (C.C.S.M., c.F175)Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act https://web.archive.org/web/20090415051754/http://www.ombudsman.mb.ca/legislation.htm
Ontario 1987 royal assent. In force 1988Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act https://web.archive.org/web/20090118181543/http://www.ipc.on.ca/index.asp?navid=4
Ontario (municipal)1990 (R.S.O. 1990, c.M56) Royal assent 1989, in force 1991Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90m56_e.htm
Saskatchewan 1991. (S.S. 1990–91, c.F-22.01)Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act https://web.archive.org/web/20090703063728/http://www.oipc.sk.ca/legislation.htm (Statute, on Commissioner's website)
Saskatchewan (municipal)1991 (S.S. 1990–91, c.F-22.01)Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act http://www.qp.gov.sk.ca/documents/English/Statutes/Statutes/L27-1.pdf
British Columbia 1992 [1993 in force] (R.S.B.C. 1996, c.165.) Amended since. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act https://www.oipc.bc.ca/about/legislation/ / https://www.oipc.bc.ca/ - Commissioner's office / www.fipa.bc.ca - FIPA
Alberta 1994. (R.S.A. 2000, c.F-25)Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act http://www.qp.alberta.ca/1266.cfm?page=F25.cfm&leg_type=Acts&isbncln=9780779743568 (on Alberta's government website)
Northwest Territories 1994 (S.N.W.T. 1994, c.20). Amended several timesAccess to Information and Protection of Privacy Act https://web.archive.org/web/20080512003333/http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/ATIPP/atipp.htm
Prince Edward Island 2001 (R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c.F-15.01)Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act http://www.gov.pe.ca/foipp/index.php3 / http://www.assembly.pe.ca/index.php3?number=1013943 Archived 2010-02-27 at the Wayback Machine - Commissioner's office
Nunavut 2000 (S.N.W.T. 1994, c.20) On April 1, 2000, Nunavut adopted the laws of the Northwest Territories until such time as it replaces those laws with its own / See Nunavut commissioner's 2006-07 annual report at - http://www.assembly.nu.ca/public_docs/info_privacy_0607.pdf%5B%5D Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Nunavut) https://web.archive.org/web/20100226044708/http://www.info-privacy.nu.ca/en/home

See also

Related Research Articles

Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfaction with the secrecy surrounding government policy development and decision making. In recent years Access to Information Act has also been used. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions. Also variously referred to as open records, or sunshine laws, governments are typically bound by a duty to publish and promote openness. In many countries there are constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but these are usually unused if specific support legislation does not exist. Additionally, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 has a target to ensure public access to information and the protection of fundamental freedoms as a means to ensure accountable, inclusive and just institutions.

The role of information commissioner differs from nation to nation. Most commonly it is a title given to a government regulator in the fields of freedom of information and the protection of personal data in the widest sense. The office often functions as a specialist ombudsman service.

The Campaign for Freedom of Information is an advocacy group that promotes and defends freedom of information in the UK. It seeks to strengthen the public's rights under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and related laws and opposes attempts to weaken them. It does this through campaigning, the publication of briefings and other reports and research. The Campaign also provides advice to the public, assistance to people challenging unreasonable refusals to disclose information and runs training courses on freedom of information.

<i>Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act</i> 2000 Canadian law

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is a Canadian law relating to data privacy. It governs how private sector organizations collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial business. In addition, the Act contains various provisions to facilitate the use of electronic documents. PIPEDA became law on 13 April 2000 to promote consumer trust in electronic commerce. The act was also intended to reassure the European Union that the Canadian privacy law was adequate to protect the personal information of European citizens. In accordance with section 29 of PIPEDA, Part I of the Act must be reviewed by Parliament every five years. The first Parliamentary review occurred in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of Information Act 2000</span> Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. Its application is limited in Scotland to UK Government offices located in Scotland. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party in the 1997 general election, developed by David Clark as a 1997 White Paper. The final version of the Act was criticised by freedom of information campaigners as a diluted form of what had been proposed in the White Paper. The full provisions of the act came into force on 1 January 2005. The Act was the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department. However, freedom of information policy is now the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. The Act led to the renaming of the Data Protection Commissioner, who is now known as the Information Commissioner. The Office of the Information Commissioner oversees the operation of the Act.

A privacy policy is a statement or legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer or client's data. Personal information can be anything that can be used to identify an individual, not limited to the person's name, address, date of birth, marital status, contact information, ID issue, and expiry date, financial records, credit information, medical history, where one travels, and intentions to acquire goods and services. In the case of a business, it is often a statement that declares a party's policy on how it collects, stores, and releases personal information it collects. It informs the client what specific information is collected, and whether it is kept confidential, shared with partners, or sold to other firms or enterprises. Privacy policies typically represent a broader, more generalized treatment, as opposed to data use statements, which tend to be more detailed and specific.

Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government.

Information privacy, data privacy or data protection laws provide a legal framework on how to obtain, use and store data of natural persons. The various laws around the world describe the rights of natural persons to control who is using its data. This includes usually the right to get details on which data is stored, for what purpose and to request the deletion in case the purpose is not given anymore.

Freedom of information (FOI) in the United Kingdom refers to members of the general public's right to access information held by public authorities. This right is covered in two parts:

  1. Public authorities must regularly publish updates and information regarding their activities, and
  2. Members of the public can make requests for information and updates regarding the activities of public authorities.
<i>Privacy Act</i> (Canada) Canadian federal legislation (1983)

The Privacy Act is the federal information-privacy legislation of Canada that came into effect on July 1, 1983. Administered by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Act sets out rules for how institutions of the Government of Canada collect, use, disclose, retain, and dispose of personal information of individuals.

<i>Access to Information Act</i> Canadian freedom of information act

The Access to Information Act or Information Act is a Canadian Act providing the right of access to information under the control of a federal government institution. As of 2020, the Act allowed "people who pay $5 to request an array of federal files". Paragraph 2. (1) of the Act ("Purpose") declares that government information should be available to the public, but with necessary exceptions to the right of access that should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government. Later paragraphs assign responsibility for this review to an Information Commissioner, who reports directly to parliament rather than the government in power. However, the Act provides the commissioner the power only to recommend rather than compel the release of requested information that the commissioner judges to be not subject to any exception specified in the Act.

Privacy law is a set of regulations that govern the collection, storage, and utilization of personal information from healthcare, governments, companies, public or private entities, or individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of Information Act 1982</span>

The Freedom of Information Act 1982(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which guarantees freedom of information (FOI) and the rights of access to official documents of the Commonwealth Government and of its agencies to members of the public. It was passed by the Australian Parliament on 9 March 1982, and commenced on 1 December 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian privacy law</span> Privacy law in Canada

Canadian privacy law is derived from the common law, statutes of the Parliament of Canada and the various provincial legislatures, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Perhaps ironically, Canada's legal conceptualization of privacy, along with most modern legal Western conceptions of privacy, can be traced back to Warren and Brandeis’s "The Right to Privacy" published in the Harvard Law Review in 1890, Holvast states "Almost all authors on privacy start the discussion with the famous article 'The Right to Privacy' of Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis".

There is no absolute right to privacy in Australian law and there is no clearly recognised tort of invasion of privacy or similar remedy available to people who feel their privacy has been violated. Privacy is, however, affected and protected in limited ways by common law in Australia and a range of federal, state and territorial laws, as well as administrative arrangements.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), known until 2010 as the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner is an independent Australian Government agency, acting as the national data protection authority for Australia, established under the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, headed by the Australian Information Commissioner.

Proactive disclosure is the act of releasing information before it is requested. In Canada, this refers to an environment where information is released routinely through electronic means with the exception of information that the government is required to protect due to privacy risks. This could refer to information regarding citizens' social insurance numbers or military operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Access to public information in Europe</span> Public access to information maintained by government agencies in Europe

Access to public information and freedom of information (FOI) refer to the right to access information held by public bodies also known as "right to know". Access to public information is considered of fundamental importance for the effective functioning of democratic systems, as it enhances governments' and public officials' accountability, boosting people's participation and allowing their informed participation into public life. The fundamental premise of the right to access public information is that the information held by governmental institutions is in principle public and may be concealed only on the basis of legitimate reasons which should be detailed in the law. Access to public information builds on the principle that in a democratic system people should be in the condition of accessing a wide range of information in order to effectively participate in public life as well as on matters affecting them.

Open by Default, as widely used in the contexts of Open Government and Open Data, is the principle in which government makes its data accessible to the public by default, unless there is a sufficient justification to explain that greater public interest may be at stake, as a result of disclosure. Since the principle empowers the public's right to know and capacity to oversee government activities, it is closely associated with government transparency, civic engagement, and e-governance in organizing public life. In many cases, the principle is accompanied with the technological commitment to create "metadata standardization for all datasets, publication of a machine-readable data catalogue or inventory of both released and to-be released datasets ... (and) use of open licenses."

<i>Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act</i> (Manitoba) Manitoba, Canada statute

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) is an act of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba that is both an access-to-information statute and an information-privacy statute.

References

  1. ↑ "A Love Affair with Secrecy". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  2. 1 2 Luscombe, Alex; Walby, Kevin (September 2017). "Theorizing freedom of information: The live archive, obfuscation, and actor-network theory". Government Information Quarterly. 34 (3): 379–387. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2017.09.003.
  3. ↑ "C-462 (37-3) - First Reading - An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and to make amendments to other Acts - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.gc.ca.
  4. ↑ "C-201 (38-1) - First Reading - Open Government Act - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.gc.ca.
  5. ↑ "THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT AND RECENT PROPOSALS FOR REFORM". Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  6. ↑ "Tories kill access to information database". CBC News Online. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  7. 1 2 "Harper defends database shutdown". The Globe and Mail . 2008-05-05. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  8. ↑ "Canadian FOI Resource Website". www3.telus.net. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  9. ↑ ""The Dark Country" by Gil Shochat - The Walrus - January 2010". 17 September 2012. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "The Dark Country". Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  11. ↑ Cardoso, Tom (22 October 2022). "80 years to unseal RCMP files: What one researcher's death says about Canada's access-to-information system". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
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