RECOMMENDATION 1

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the Act be amended in order to identify the institutions subject to the Act according to criteria, which shall include the following:

• institutions that are publicly controlled in whole or in part by the Government of Canada, including those for which the government appoints a majority of the members of the governing body (such as Crown corporations and their subsidiaries);
• institutions that perform a public function, including those that meet one of the following criteria:
  1. The institution performs a public function for the federal government in one of its areas of jurisdiction, such as health and safety, the environment and economic security;
  2. The institution has the power to establish regulations or standards in an area of federal jurisdiction;
  3. The institution is responsible for carrying out a public policy on behalf of the federal government;
• institutions established by statute (such as airport authorities);
• all institutions covered by the Financial Administration Act.

RECOMMENDATION 2

That in the second phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, further consideration be given as to how the Act should apply to institutions that are publicly funded by the Government of Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 3

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the Act be extended to include the Prime Minister’s Office, offices of ministers and ministers of State, and parliamentary secretaries, except in regards to their parliamentary functions.

RECOMMENDATION 4

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the scope of the Act be extended to include organizations that support Parliament, such as the Board of Internal Economy, the Library of Parliament, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and the Senate Ethics Officer.

RECOMMENDATION 5

1. That a new provision be created in the Act in order to prevent any infringement of parliamentary privilege.
2. That the Government of Canada consult the organizations that support Parliament, specifically, the Clerk of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Commons and the Parliamentary Librarian, in order to determine the content of the new provision protecting parliamentary privilege and to ensure that this new provision effectively protects parliamentary privilege.

RECOMMENDATION 6

That a separate and specific part of the Act be created pertaining to the application of the Act to organizations that support Parliament.

RECOMMENDATION 7

That the Government of Canada consult the organizations that support Parliament, specifically, the Clerk of the House of Commons, to determine the extent to which the Act should apply to the Board of Internal Economy.

RECOMMENDATION 8

That Parliament determine the appropriate process for the independent review of the application of the provisions protecting parliamentary privilege.

RECOMMENDATION 9

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the application of the Act be extended to include bodies providing administrative support to the courts, such as the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Courts Administration Service, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada and the Canadian Judicial Council, except in regards to court files, the records and personal notes of judges, as well as communications or draft decisions prepared by or for persons acting in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity.

RECOMMENDATION 10

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the Act be amended to establish a comprehensive legal duty to document, with appropriate sanctions for non-compliance.

RECOMMENDATION 11

That extending the right of access to all persons be considered in the second phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act.

RECOMMENDATION 12

That the government allow institutions to refuse to process requests that are frivolous, vexatious or an abuse of the right of access and that the institutions’ decisions to refuse to process such requests be subject to appeal to the Information Commissioner.

RECOMMENDATION 13

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, institutions be required to provide information to requesters in an open, reusable and accessible format by default.

RECOMMENDATION 14

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, the $5 filing fee be abolished and that consideration be given to reinstating fees for voluminous requests and for requests that require lengthy research, with the exception of requests for personal information.

RECOMMENDATION 15

That consideration be given to strengthening the duty to assist through the implementation of client-service principles.

RECOMMENDATION 16

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, extensions be limited to the extent strictly necessary, to a maximum of 30 days and that extensions longer than 30 days be available with the permission of the Information Commissioner.

RECOMMENDATION 17

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act,  the Act be amended to include a general public interest override, applicable to all non-mandatory exemptions, with a requirement to consider the following, non-exhaustive list of factors:

• Open Government objectives;
• environmental, health or public safety implications;
• whether the information reveals human rights abuses or would safeguard the right to life, liberty or security of the person.

RECOMMENDATION 18

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, all exclusions in the Act be repealed and replaced with exemptions, as required.

RECOMMENDATION 19

That in the first phase of the reform of the Access to Information Act, a reasonable expectation of injury test be added to the exemption for advice and recommendations.

RECOMMENDATION 20

That factual materials, public opinion polls, statistical surveys, appraisals, economic forecasts, and instructions or guidelines for employees of a public institution be explicitly removed from the scope of the exemption for advice and recommendations.

RECOMMENDATION 21

That the time limit of the exemption for advice and recommendations be significantly reduced.

RECOMMENDATION 22

That a mandatory exemption for Cabinet confidences, when disclosure would reveal the substance of deliberations of Cabinet, be added to the Access to Information Act in the first phase of the reform of the Act.

RECOMMENDATION 23

That the mandatory exemption for Cabinet confidences would not apply to:

• purely factual or background information;
• information in a record of decision made by Cabinet or any of its committees on an appeal under an act;
• where consent is obtained to disclose the information; and
• information in a record that has been in existence for an appropriate period of time as determined by the government and that this period of time be less than the current 20 years.

RECOMMENDATION 24

That investigations of refusals to disclose pursuant to the exemption for Cabinet confidences be delegated to a limited number of designated officers or employees within the Information Commissioner’s office.

RECOMMENDATION 25

That the government strengthen the oversight of the right of access by adopting an order-making model with clear and rigorously defined parameters.

RECOMMENDATION 26

That if an order-making model is adopted, any ministerial veto be limited to national security issues, be exercised only to overturn an order of the Information Commissioner and be subject to judicial review.

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.

RECOMMENDATION 31

That a mandatory parliamentary review of the Act be done every five years and that an obligation to table a report in Parliament be included in the Access to Information Act in the first phase of the reform of the Act.

RECOMMENDATION 32

That as part of its review of the Access to Information Act, the Government conduct a study of the role that Access to Information Coordinators play within government institutions in order to ensure that they have the necessary independence and autonomy.