Bill C-58 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

This enactment amends the Access to Information Act to, among other things,
(a) authorize the head of a government institution, with the approval of the Information Commissioner, to decline to act on a request for access to a record for various reasons;
(b) authorize the Information Commissioner to refuse to investigate or cease to investigate a complaint that is, in the Commissioner’s opinion, trivial, frivolous or vexatious or made in bad faith;
(c) clarify the powers of the Information Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner to examine documents containing information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege in the course of their investigations and clarify that the disclosure by the head of a government institution to either of those Commissioners of such documents does not constitute a waiver of those privileges or that professional secrecy;
(d) authorize the Information Commissioner to make orders for the release of records or with respect to other matters relating to requesting or obtaining records and to publish any reports that he or she makes, including those that contain any orders he or she makes, and give parties the right to apply to the Federal Court for a review of the matter;
(e) create a new Part providing for the proactive publication of information or materials related to the Senate, the House of Commons, parliamentary entities, ministers’ offices, government institutions and institutions that support superior courts;
(f) require the designated Minister to undertake a review of the Act within one year after the day on which this enactment receives royal assent and every five years afterward;
(g) authorize government institutions to provide to other government institutions services related to requests for access to records; and
(h) expand the Governor in Council’s power to amend Schedule I to the Act and to retroactively validate amendments to that schedule.
It amends the Privacy Act to, among other things,
(a) create a new exception to the definition of “personal information” with respect to certain information regarding an individual who is a ministerial adviser or a member of a ministerial staff;
(b) authorize government institutions to provide to other government institutions services related to requests for personal information; and
(c) expand the Governor in Council’s power to amend the schedule to the Act and to retroactively validate amendments to that schedule.
It also makes consequential amendments to the Canada Evidence Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

Indigenous Affairs

[Scott Brison, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, we have consulted with first nations. In fact, we have received suggestions that include clarification that broad requests, particularly historical records to substantiate indigenous claims, are in fact legitimate and consistent with the act. Further to that, we support amendments to Bill C-58 to strengthen the bill by making it explicit that no department can refuse a request simply because of the subject, the type of record, or that the date of record is not specified. We have listened, and as a result of that, the Information Commissioner—

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this week, the Assembly of First Nations is holding its special chiefs assembly where a resolution will be presented to reject Bill C-58, the Liberals' effort to gut our Access to Information Act. Today, five chiefs stood with me, calling on the Liberals to fix Bill C-58, since it introduces significant new barriers for first nations trying to access even basic information.

The Liberals like to talk about how the most important relationship is with indigenous people, so will they finally actually consult first nations and fix this regressive bill?

Bill C-58—Notice of time allocation motion

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise that an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2) with respect to the third reading stage of Bill C-58, an act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of proceedings at the said stage.

Business of the House

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, today we will continue the debate on Bill S-3, indigenous registration. Tomorrow, we will take up third reading debate on Bill C-63, the budget legislation.

On Monday, we will have the last opposition day in a supply cycle, meaning that we will also vote on supplementary estimates (B) and the respective appropriation bill at the end of the day.

Tuesday, we hope to complete third reading debate on Bill C-58, concerning access to information reforms.

Wednesday afternoon, we will call C-61, the first nations education legislation.

We will round off the week with Bill C-24, the Salaries Act, at report stage.

I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all hon. members in this House for coming together on the apology of the LGBTQ2 Canadians this week.

Finally, discussions have taken place between the parties, and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when the House begins debate on the second reading motion of Bill C-61, An Act to give effect to the Anishinabek Nation Education Agreement and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, a Member of each recognized party, a Member of the Bloc Québécois and the Member for Saanich—Gulf Islands may speak to the said motion for not more than 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for questions and comments, after which the Bill shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Was there anything in Bill C-58 that will actually help? Was anything mandated—that part was taken out—that was put in there going to help you be more effective?

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

When they had Bill C-58, one of the things—and I'm a layperson so I don't know much—that came up was that if the request had three parts, and this has been taken out, if they had the subject matter, the type of document, and the period of time, we were told that that would very much help the departments be more effective. We were told that by IRCC and border services who represent 60% of all requests, so more than 60% of all requests said, “Look, if you just give us this bit of information, we can be a lot more effective.”

The commissioner was dead set against that. It was felt that it was barring access to information, and it was actually taken out. But it seemed to me, at the time, that would have made you a lot more effective. It would be a lot easier to produce, and this was coming from the departments that actually have to do the work, saying that would make their work a lot more effective.

Given that didn't take place, what things can be done to make it more effective?

[Layla Michaud]

This year we asked for temporary funding as well, and again it's a fit-gap measure because of Bill C-58. Hopefully, we will be consulted and able to work with Treasury Board and Finance in regard to giving them proposals as to how much money we need to operationalize.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

It's equilibrium, balance, sure.

Did the government come to you at any point for a cost estimate of the impacts of Bill C-58 on your department?

[Layla Michaud]

We need to see the form that Bill C-58 is going to take at the end of the parliamentary process. A report was tabled by the commissioner, as you know. She was here before you a few weeks ago. Amendments were proposed by this committee. We're now at the third reading stage. We are analyzing the proposed amendments. When our analysis is done, the commissioner will comment further on Bill C-58.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

We heard from many witnesses that Bill C-58 was going to create problems in getting access to information from certain government agencies. If problems are created, complaints go up and the costs to your office also go up in trying to resolve these complaints. Is that a fair, logical extension?

[Layla Michaud]

We will have to do another analysis to see if $4 million will be enough. Based on the form that Bill C-58 is going to take—

[Layla Michaud]

First, we must see the final version of the bill. Second, one of the issues we have to tackle is the transition. That's extremely important. How will the transition be handled?

If Bill C-58 becomes law in January and all the complaints received up to January are no longer managed in the same way as the new complaints received under the new legislation, we will have to manage two different systems. We need to know how the transition will be handled. How will we manage those two systems?

Today, our inventory has more than 3,400 complaints. If the bill becomes law in January or February, those 3,400 complaints will have to be processed under the new system. The last thing we want is to have an inventory under the new provisions. We will have to do a thorough analysis. As we often say, “the devil is in the details”. When we analyze the bill, which we have already started, we must pay attention to all that. For now, it's very difficult to give you an amount.

[Layla Michaud]

In the past few years, we have made repeated requests for permanent funding.

In your analysis, we look at the trend in complaints, our inventory and the number of complaints received every year.

Three or four years ago, when we did this analysis, we said that we needed about $4 million per year for the first three years in order to be able to bring our inventory down to almost zero, to 500 complaints. In addition, we needed a little over $1 million on an ongoing basis. That analysis was carried out three or four years ago. At that time, we were receiving between 1,700 and 1,800 complaints a year. Last year, we received over 2,000, just like the previous year. This year, if the trend keeps up, we expect to receive more than 2,400. The demand is much higher than what we are able to offer. We therefore have to regulate supply and demand. We should conduct another analysis on that.

Three or four years ago, we needed $4 million per year for three years, in addition to an ongoing amount of just over $1 million a year. In whatever shape or form, Bill C-58 will be a game changer.

[Layla Michaud (Deputy Commissioner, Investigations and Governance, Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada):]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Layla Michaud. I'm the deputy commissioner, investigations and governance. I'm also the chief financial officer for the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada.

I'm here to seek the approval of the committee for supplementary estimates (B).

The Access to Information Act establishes the Information Commissioner as the first level of independent review of institutions' decisions on disclosure in response to access requests. Requesters who are not satisfied with how institutions responded to their access request have the right to complain to the OIC.

The Commissioner is required by law to investigate all complaints within her jurisdiction. These investigations are conducted in an efficient, fair, and confidential manner. For the past few years, we have been of the view that the current funding levels for the OIC are insufficient for the office to properly fulfill its mandate to protect Canadians' access to information rights.

Underfunding of this office has been endemic for years. We have made repeated requests for additional permanent funding. To date none have been accepted.

Last year this committee approved temporary funding for the office of $3.4 million for one year. This funding was a fit-gap measure put in place pending the adoption of Bill C-58. With this funding we resolved 2,245 complaints. This was the highest number of complaints resolved in any year of Commissioner Legault's mandate.

Last year the Office of the Information Commissioner made another request for funding but this request was not included in budget 2017. However, since the office lapsed a portion of its funding in 2015-16 and in 2016-17, we now seek your approval through supplementary estimates (B) to reprofile this lapsed funding in the amount of $1.8 million. With these funds, the $1.8 million, we plan to hire 14 consultants and resolve a total of 1,900 complaints.

The office senior management team will closely monitor results. Our performance is also followed by our external audit and evaluation committee on an ongoing basis. However, this request is again a fit-gap measure and will not resolve the office's ongoing funding issue.

For this reason, a permanent funding solution continues to be needed for the office to properly fulfill its mandate and provide the independent oversight Canadians deserve. Hence, we will continue to work with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Department of Finance to ensure Canadians' access rights are protected.

In closing, I ask that you approve this request to re-profile the $1.8 million in lapsed funding, through Supplementary Estimates B.

Once again, thank you, Mr. Chair, for the invitation to discuss our request for funding and I hope we have the opportunity to discuss a more permanent solution for the office's funding in the future.

I would now be pleased to answer your questions.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

If I may say so, our new access to information law, Bill C-58, does move towards proactive disclosure of certain things but doesn't touch on this at all.

My effort was to ensure that since we have the regulation-making powers of the Governor in Council under this particular bill in clause 24.... At this point the only thing the Governor in Council is empowered to do by regulation is to amend the schedule by adding or deleting any oil or class of oils. Expanding that to ensure that the Governor in Council can make regulations to facilitate public access to information, I think this is very helpful.

I know we're looking at Bill C-48 and not Bill C-58, but I am of the view of the Information Commissioner that Bill C-58 is legislation that takes us backwards and that will make it harder to access information. Anything we can do under this bill to make it easier for the public and first nations communities to have access to that information proactively....

Certainly there's no harm in this amendment, and I think you could ask your officials whether it does any damage. You can keep your fingers crossed and hope the public's going to be able to get at it, but I've said for years—it's a good line, so I'll say it again—that Canada's freedom of information acts have tended to, for years, be freedom from information. I don't think they're getting better, so anything we can do in this bill to create more access to the information that first nations have wanted on a timely basis and that environmental law groups have wanted on a timely basis....

Maybe the officials could tell me how it does any harm. The most I've heard them say so far is that we don't need it because it's redundant, and that's not something I believe.

Thank you.