Five-year review of the Act

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    APA

    Open Government, Government of Canada. (2016, April 27). Five-year review of the Act. Retrieved from http://open.canada.ca/en/content/five-year-review-act
    MLA

    “Five-year review of the Act.” Open Government, Government of Canada, 27 April 2016, http://open.canada.ca/en/content/five-year-review-act
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Proposal

Undertake a legislative review of the Access to Information Act every five years.

Background

In 2009, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) recommended that Parliament review the Access to Information Act every five years.

Access to information legislation in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador provides for five-year reviews. British Columbia's legislation provides for a six year review.

Different jurisdictions review their access to information legislation in different ways. Some have a Parliamentary Committee review the legislation while others use an independent committee. Committees may undertake a comprehensive review of the legislation or examine specific challenges that have arisen since the last review.

The Government has committed to undertake a full – and soon to be mandatory – five year review of the Act no later than 2018.

What are your views on the scope or approach that should be taken in that review?

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Comments

Submitted by Anonymous on May 02, 2016 - 6:09 PM

I would like to note that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) is currently studying the legislation and hearing from witnesses. I don't know if this work qualifies as a review as proposed here. In any case, I strongly endorse a full, mandatory five-year review of the Act. I am not presently sufficiently informed to prescribe the scope or approach, but I believe these should be informed by international best practices and by the experiences of other jurisdictions within Canada.