Bill C-567: An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (transparency and duty to document)

C-567 Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 62 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014 HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA BILL C-567 An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (transparency and duty to document) first reading, January 28, 2014 Mr. Martin 412107 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Access to Information Act to, among other things, (a) give the Information Commissioner of Canada the power to order government institutions to release documents; (b) require government institutions to create records to document their decisions, recommendations and actions; (c) establish an explicit duty to comply with orders of the Information Commissioner; and (d) provide that those orders may be filed with the Federal Court and enforced as if they were judgments of that Court. Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca 2nd Session, 41st Parliament, 62 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014 house of commons of canada BILL C-567 An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (transparency and duty to document) R.S., c. A-1 Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: 1. (1) Subsection 2(1) of the Access to Information Act is replaced by the following: Purpose 2. (1) The purpose of this Act is to make government institutions fully accountable to the public, and to make the records under the control of those institutions fully accessible to the public, by extending the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of those institutions in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independ-ently of government. (2) Subsection 2(2) of the Act is replaced by the following: Application (2) The provisions of this Act apply despite any other Act of Parliament, subject to national security considerations and the terms and conditions of the Privacy Act and are not intended to limit in any way access to the type of government information that is normally available to the general public. 2. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 2: Creation of records 2.1 Every officer and employee of a government institution shall create such records as are reasonably necessary under this Act to document their decisions, actions, advice, recommendations and deliberations. Disclosure of record 2.2 Despite any other provision of this Act, the head of a government institution shall disclose a record or part of a record requested under this Act, if the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs in importance the need for secrecy. 3. Section 21 of the Act is replaced by the following: Advice, etc. 21. The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that came into existence less than five years before the request if the record contains (a) advice or recommendations developed by or for a government institution or a minister of the Crown and disclosure of the record could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the internal advice-giving process of the government institution; (b) an account of consultations or deliberations involving officers or employees of a government institution, a minister of the Crown or the staff of a minister of the Crown and disclosure of the record could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the internal decision-making process of the government; or (c) positions or plans developed for the purpose of negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the Government of Canada and considerations relating thereto and disclosure of the record could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the conduct of the negotiations. 4. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 23: Confidences of the queen's privy council for canada Confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada 23.1 (1) The head of a government institution shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Definitions (2) The following definitions apply in this section. “confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada”« renseignements confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada » “confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada” means information which, if disclosed, would reveal the substance of deliberations of Council or the substance of deliberations between or among ministers. “Council”« Conseil » “Council” means the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet. Exception (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to (a) confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for 15 years or more; (b) background explanations, analyses of problems or policy options presented to Council for consideration by Council in making decisions, if (i) the decisions to which the information relates have been made public, or (ii) four years have passed since the decisions were made; or (c) decisions of the Council, if (i) the decisions or the substance of the decisions have been made public, or (ii) four years have passed since the decisions were made. 5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 37: Compliance order 37.1 (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, after investigating a complaint under this Act or after an investigation on his or her own initiative, the Information Commissioner may order the release of a requested record or part of a record or may take other necessary actions to ensure compliance with this Act. Time limit (2) The Information Commissioner shall establish a time limit for the implementation of any order made under subsection (1). Extension of time limit (3) Upon a request by the government institution that is the object of an order, the Information Commissioner may extend the time limit for the implementation of the order at any time during the implementation period established by the Information Commissioner. Extension of time limit only once (4) The extension of the time limit may only be granted once. Duty to comply with orders 37.2 The government institution that is the object of the order under section 37.1 shall comply with the order within the time limit established under subsection 37.1(2) or (3), as the case may be, unless an application for judicial review of the order is sought under section 41. Enforcement of orders 37.3 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Information Commissioner may file a certified copy of an order made under section 37.1 with the Court, and an order filed under this section has the same force and effect, and all proceedings may be taken on it, as if it were a judgment of the Court. Conditions (2) An order may be filed under subsection (1) only if the time limit described in section 37.2 has expired and the order is not the subject of an application for judicial review or the subject of an appeal or further appeal, as the case may be, of a decision resulting from judicial review of the order. 6. Section 41 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 41(1) and is amended by adding the following: Review of order (2) The head of a government institution that is the subject of an order under section 37.1 may apply to the Court for a review of the order within forty-five days after the expiration of the time limit referred to in subsection 37.1(2) or (3), as the case may be. Provisions apply (3) For greater certainty, sections 42 to 52 apply, with such modifications as may be necessary, to applications made under subsection (2). 7. Subsection 67.1(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (c) and by replacing paragraph (d) with the following: (d) fail to create a record in accordance with section 2.1; or (e) direct, propose, counsel or cause any person in any manner to do anything mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (d). 8. Section 69 of the Act is repealed. 9. Subsection 77(2) of the Act is replaced by the following: Additions to Schedule I (2) The Governor in Council shall, by order, amend Schedule I so that it includes (a) all departments and ministries of state of the Government of Canada; (b) all bodies or offices funded in whole or in part from Parliamentary appropriations; (c) all bodies or offices wholly- or majority- owned by the Government of Canada; and (d) all bodies or offices listed in Schedules I, I.1, II and III of the Financial Administration Act. Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons