One third of access to information requests take at least four months to release
Veterans Affairs, Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Environment Canada among departments that spend more than 120 days to process most of their requests, a Star analysis reveals.

TheStar.com
July 22, 2014
Alex Boutilier

Nearly one third of access to information requests on Ottawa’s plate this spring were expected to take more than four months to release, according to new data analyzed by the Star.

Information tabled in Parliament revealed that 29 per cent of access to information requests being processed by Ottawa in May were expected to take more than 120 days to release.

The data is only a snapshot of Canada’s access to information regime, but it shows that some departments and agencies can turn around information requests relatively quickly — almost 50 per cent were projected to be released in 30 days or less.

Other departments, however, are spending much longer reviewing government records before releasing them to the public. Veterans Affairs, for instance, expected 44 of its 68 active files to take more than four months to review — a government-wide high of 64 per cent.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was a close second, with 56 per cent of its 161 requests projected to require more than 120 days to process. Environment Canada (52 per cent), the RCMP (51 per cent), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (51 per cent) also expected to take more than four months for the majority of their access requests.

“It’s not good enough . . . Access to information requests are supposed to be done in a timely fashion according to the law,” said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, who requested the data from 67 different departments and agencies.

In her request, Bennett also asked departments to detail exactly how they intend to expedite the process of releasing information to the public. The Treasury Board, the department responsible for the federal access to information regime, said the government is attempting to reduce delays related to departments consulting each other on a single request.

Stephanie Rae, a spokeswoman for Treasury Board President Tony Clement, noted the government received more than 55,000 requests for information in 2012-2013.

“Our professional, non-partisan public servants are processing over 11 million pages in an effort to complete these 55,145 requests in a timely manner,” Rae wrote in an email to the Star.

“Government departments and agencies are receiving more requests, processing more pages, and releasing more records than ever before . . . (Treasury Board) requires all requests to be assessed without undue delay and, if an extension is needed, it must be justifiable.”

But while the number of pages is increasing, so too are the number of complaints about the government’s handling of access to information files.

According to the most recent report from Canada’s information commissioner, complaints about the government’s handling of access to information requests increased by 30 per cent in 2013-2014.

In that report, Suzanne Legault wrote that she’s concerned about government institutions struggling to provide timely access, as well as taking an “overly broad approach to exempting information” from public disclosure.

Both the opposition New Democrats and Liberals have put forward proposals to modernize access laws.
Bennett says she hopes the newly-released data will serve as a benchmark for those attempts.

“The heart of accountability is transparency, and the heart of that is access to information,” Bennett said.

“We just have to do better.”

With files from the Canadian Press

Departments with the quickest turnaround
Industry Canada: 81.7 per cent of requests processed in 30 days
Canada Border Services Agency: 72.6 per cent
Citizenship and Immigration Canada: 62.9 per cent

Departments with the longest waits:
Veterans Affairs: 64.7 per cent of requests expected to take more than 120 days.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency: 56.2 per cent
Canadian Heritage: 54.1 per cent

Source: Parliamentary documents, departmental access to information requests in May 2014. Departments with fewer than 50 requests not included.