I feel 2014-2015 was a deplorable year in the history of access to information in Canada, simply because the previous government produced a bill which retroactively cancelled the application of the Access to Information Act. It is quite a well-known issue. We discussed this issue and the data from the long gun registry, as well as the investigation we conducted with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
This was in my opinion unprecedented in the history of Canadian democracy. The issue is now before the Federal Court in two cases. We obtained a court order from that court to have the information that still existed seized and stored. In fact, this was the data from the Quebec registry.
We also have proceedings ongoing before the Superior Court of Ontario on a constitutional issue, which is that the law contravenes the rule of law in Canadian democracy, and freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the charter.
Both matters are ongoing. The Federal Court case was adjourned sine die until the Superior Court hands down its decision. Proceedings at the Superior Court have been temporarily stayed at the request of the current government. We are waiting to see what the government is going to do regarding that file.
So that was the most difficult year particularly because of that file. In my opinion this represented a total negation of Canadians' rights to access information. It is a black stain in the history of access to information in Canada.