OTTAWA – Canada’s information watchdog is once again looking at calls for Parliament to open its doors to access to information requests in response to a comprehensive public consultation.
Neither the House of Commons nor the Senate are currently subject to the Access to Information Act, which allows Canadians to demand more details about decisions, expenses and policies made by public officials.
It’s an exemption that has come to the forefront due to questions about expenditures made by senators. While summaries of expenses are posted on the Senate website, details like receipts and itineraries are not made public. Nor can they be requested under access law.
Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault is in the midst of a comprehensive review of the 30-year-old Access to Information Act. After four months of soliciting feedback, her office is now sifting through the recommendations of Canadians with a goal of reporting back to Parliament this fall.
The call for the law to be expanded to Parliament, at least partially, was raised repeatedly in public submissions made to her office.
One of those calls was made by Vince Gogolek of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association.
“The reason it is important is for transparency in government,” Gogolek told Global News. “We really should be in a position where we are able to find out what is going on.”
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression also expressed support for the inclusion in their submissions, with appropriate exceptions to protect parliamentary privilege.
“It is hard to comprehend how two of the most significant institutions in the functioning of Canadian democracy are not subject to access to information inquiries,” the submission reads. “It means that Canadian Parliamentarians have no direct experience in being subject to access to information requests – a fact that might help explain the culture of secrecy in Ottawa.”
Tamir Israel, staff lawyer with the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, wrote the exclusion of the legislature is “antithetical” to transparent governance.
“All of these entities play a vital democratic role and the information under their respective control is therefore of central importance to transparency, open governance and democratic discourse.”
Others that recommended extending the law to Parliament included the Canadian Libraries Association, the Centre for Law and Democracy and a few private citizens.
While Legault declined to comment on specific feedback this early in the process, her office confirmed they received many comments in regard to the scope of the Act, and will be looking into it as part of its work.
Legislatures in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland already provide access.
A call to include Parliament under the Act would not be the first. The House of Commons Justice Committee first made the recommendation in 1987.
The watchdog’s office made a similar recommendation in 2009, suggesting that the law be extended to cover records related to the general administration of Parliament with provisions protecting parliamentary privilege. The committee supported the recommendation but Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said at the time that “there are challenges” to extending the scope due to the need to protect parliamentary privilege.
“That’s an argument they can make when somebody makes a request for the records,” said Gogolek. “They shouldn’t be able to say we are completely off-limits.”
Legault is planning to report back to Parliament on what she heard from Canadians this fall, but any recommendations she may make will be subject to the approval of the federal government.
Minister Nicholson’s office said the government is committed to transparency, citing the fact that one of their first moves in 2006 was to amend the access to information regime.
“We look forward to hearing from the Information Commissioner when she reports back to Parliament and will review her recommendations at that time,” said Nicholson’s spokeswoman Julie Di Mambro.
The Conservatives also launched an open government action plan last year, promising to modernize the administration of current access to information requirements.
“This would be a golden opportunity to illustrate that they are taking seriously their commitment to the open government partnership,” said Heather Morrison, a board member of the B.C. Libraries Association, which made a submission.
Gogolek said Canadians hold the fate of reform in their hand.
“It is really a function of how much outrage is there in terms of the people of Canada. If they make this an issue that is important to them, it will be an issue that is important to the government,” he said.
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