Access requests should be the last resort to obtain the information. The information should be accessible through proactive disclosure. It should be accessible through the portal. I've given the example before that, with CRA, you have your own account. Imagine if you had to ask, through an access request, for information about your taxes. You don't have to, because you have a portal where you can go and see your information.
IRCC is a great example. If they provided their information through a portal, we would see 200,000 fewer requests a year in this government. I would see 3,000 fewer complaints in my office probably as well.
There is a lot to invest in providing the information that Canadians are asking for, not what the government wants to give. There's a difference between providing information that nobody wants to read about.... We need to find out what Canadians want. Institutions know that. They have the frequent requesters and requests that come back. Briefing notes are a good example. Now that we're providing titles, they are asking for the content.
I told the deputy ministers, when they write a briefing note, to make sure they know what they want to provide—what's public and what's not public—so that it's easier for their ATIP unit to process afterwards.