Federal information commissioner calls for a revitalization of access law in an interview, says that the systems that implement it are ‘not to par’
Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard prepares to appear at the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, in Ottawa, on March 7.Canada’s information commissioners have signed a joint resolution calling on federal, provincial and territorial governments to modernize access laws and strengthen the public’s right to information, after a Globe and Mail investigation found public bodies are routinely breaking those laws.
Commissioners signed the resolution in Quebec City, at a yearly meeting of federal, provincial and territorial information and privacy commissioners. “In order to restore a collective sense of social cohesion and trust in our public institutions, Canadians must be able to rely upon an accurate and truthful source of facts and evidence about present and historical events,” the statement says.
Access laws exist across Canada and around the world, and enshrine into law the principle that people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, how their elected officials are governing and how their public institutions are being run. Mr. McEvoy added that he is optimistic that governments will respond as more people become aware of the issues facing their access rights. Those rights should not just be restored, but advanced, he said – for example, by removing fees for access to information, or expanding the scope of the law to cover even more public institutions that spend taxpayer dollars.
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