Thank you. I don't think I'll take 10 minutes. I apologize for blasting in late like that. Bridges closed between Gatineau and Ottawa are never helpful.
Good morning.
My name is Marc-Philippe Laurin. I am the President of the Canadian Media Guild's CBC Branch.
The guild represents 5,000 members working for public broadcasters across Canada, except Quebec.
Joining me today is my colleague Karen Wirsig, the guild's Communications Coordinator.
The guild members work in the area of information.
Our members are among the most experienced users of access to information in the country and have broken important stories in the public interest.
Therefore, we are in favour of a strong and clear piece of legislation on access to information that ensures that information from government departments, agencies and institutions is accessible to Canadians.
In her recent annual report, Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault writes that there has been a steady decline over the last two decades in two important measures of access to government information: timeliness and disclosure. Only a little more than half of all information requests are answered within 30 days, and worse, fewer than one-fifth of all requests are fully answered.
The report makes it clear that it is not a single federal institution that is at the root of the problem of access to information. The Information Commissioner has expressed concern about the amount of information that gets caught up in exemptions within the variety of federal departments, agencies, and institutions. We also note that according to CBC, government departments and ministers have gone to court with the Information Commissioner some 46 times to clarify issues.
We would respectfully submit that the strength and clarity of the act must be improved if Parliament is indeed interested in ensuring Canadians have meaningful access to government information.
Karen.