In his appearance before the Committee, Minister Brison said that a change in culture around access to information was needed in order to “move toward a culture of ‛open by default.’”[212] He also said that the government has made commitments in terms of “an open and transparent government and trusting people, trusting Parliament, and trusting citizens to help us inform the decisions we take as a government.”[213]

7.1 The Commissioner’s recommendations

In her report, the Commissioner addressed open information: “The Act should be amended to reflect the government’s open government initiatives, including additional requirements for proactive disclosure.”[214] The Commissioner believes that the proactive disclosure of information that is of public interest will:

• serve to provide more information to the public so that they may effectively evaluate the government’s response to issues of public interest;
• allow the public to pressure the government to take remedial action to prevent harm; and
• reduce the impact of events of public interest on the access system by decreasing the number of access requests that the public makes to an institution.[215]

The Commissioner therefore recommended the following:

Recommendation 6.1

The Information Commissioner recommends that institutions be required to proactively publish information that is clearly of public interest.[216]

Recommendation 6.2

The Information Commissioner recommends requiring institutions to adopt publication schemes in line with the Directive on Open Government.[217]

Recommendation 6.3

The Information Commissioner recommends including within publication schemes a requirement that institutions proactively publish information about all grants, loans or contributions given by government, including the status of repayment and compliance with the terms of the agreement.[218]

Recommendation 6.4

The Information Commissioner recommends including within publication schemes a requirement that institutions post the responsive records of completed access to information requests within 30 days after the end of each month, if information is or is likely to be frequently requested.[219]

Recommendation 6.5

The Information Commissioner recommends a discretionary exemption that would allow institutions to refuse to disclose information that is reasonably available to the requester. The exemption should continue to allow an institution to withhold information placed in Library and Archives Canada or listed museums by third parties.[220]

7.2 Witnesses’ points of view

Many witnesses said that a culture of openness by default and proactive disclosure were welcome.

First, as to a culture of openness by default, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Canada, His Excellency Per Ola Sjogren, told the Committee that Sweden has a strong culture of openness and that their openness is “a basis for handling cases when it comes to public documents.” This therefore “diminishes the workload when it comes to appeals and other cumbersome administrative procedures.”[221]

Second, as to proactive disclosure, in Quebec, “the access to documents act and accompanying regulations provide for the proactive disclosure of some information and documents by government departments and agencies.”[222]

Moreover, the Committee was told that access to information requests vary between departments and that their respective realities can differ. Some departments said that they were currently reviewing the most appropriate way for their department to publish information proactively.[223]

However, many departments said that, while proactive disclosure was a good initiative, it did not necessarily reduce departments’ workloads given that they must still determine whether the exemptions and exclusions in the Act applied before publishing a document.[224]

Mr. Wudrick, Mr. Conacher and Mr. Holman supported the Commissioner’s recommendation that all information of public interest be published proactively and emphasized the importance that the information be available in a readable format.[225]

Mr. Rubin recommended the creation of a proactive disclosure code that would create a legal obligation making certain data available and set up operative principles on transparency and the right to access to information.[226]

For his part, Mr. Weiler opposed the addition of provisions on proactive disclosure in the Act[227] and recommended “creating a new, separate law dedicated to publishing government information or data.”[228] Mr. Weiler believed this new law “could be rooted in the principle that governments have a responsibility to publish information that Canadians need to be informed citizens” and “should have oversight to ensure the government is publishing information when it has a duty to do so.”[229] Lastly, Mr. Weiler recommended expanding paragraph 5(1)(b) of the Act to “include the mandatory publishing of record retention schedules.”[230]

7.3 The Committee’s recommendation

The Committee believes that government transparency, a culture of openness by default and the proactive disclosure of information of public interest must be fundamental values of the Government of Canada. The Committee firmly believes that a change in culture to a culture of openness and proactive disclosure are effective ways to reduce the administrative duties of handling access to information requests and reducing the costs of Canada’s access to information system. The Committee therefore recommends:

RECOMMENDATION 27

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, institutions be required to proactively publish information that is clearly of public interest.

RECOMMENDATION 28

That institutions be required to adopt publication schemes in line with the Directive on Open Government.

RECOMMENDATION 29

That the format in which information is published proactively be in an open, reusable and accessible format by default.

RECOMMENDATION 30

That a requirement that institutions post the responsive records of completed access to information requests within 30 days after the end of each month, if information is or is likely to be frequently requested, be included within publication schemes.