Thank you, committee members, for inviting me back as a witness as you wrap up your report on access to information.
Almost three years ago, the then Treasury Board president announced a review of access to information. Monsieur Duclos said in June 2020 that the review would focus on three things—the legislative framework, proactive publication and the administration of access to information. The minister said the review would also “seek the views of Indigenous Peoples on aspects of access to information that are important to them”.
I delivered a lengthy brief to the Treasury Board’s review team, proposing nine specific amendments to the legislation, because, after all, a review of the legislative framework was the very first thing on the minister’s list.
Last week I learned that my brief was a complete waste of time. The new Treasury Board president told the committee, “My current priority is to improve [the] administration of the existing law.” She resisted calls for amendments to the Access to Information Act, claiming that Bill C-58 had already done the job four years ago.
I felt duped. Many others who submitted legislative reforms must also feel duped.
Madame Fortier also said last week that halfway through the three-year review, Treasury Board realized that it needed to engage with indigenous people, and so asked for their input. Apparently, the minister and her officials did not get that June 2020 memo from Monsieur Duclos about the need to seek the views of indigenous people.
Once again, a government with no stomach for transparency has ragged the puck for three years. Now they promise a so-called action plan sometime in year number four.
An activist I know talks about something she calls the “cycle of denial”. She works to stop violence against women. Every police agency and government asks that her group supply evidence about the problem. She diligently puts together briefs and reports. Time passes. Agencies and governments with new leaders then ask for fresh evidence. The cycle of denial starts again. Nothing gets done.
The Treasury Board’s report on access to information last fall is the 17th such review since 1982—not a particularly insightful one, by the way—so we have our own cycle of denial in the transparency world. Nothing is getting done. That’s no accident. Governments always lose their appetite for openness one day after elections are held.
Your committee’s work is an opportunity to push back against foot-dragging by bureaucrats and ministers, to give voice to Canadians who dare ask how government is spending their money, and to help backbenchers get answers to questions that are routinely dismissed in Parliament. I hope your report will put important legislative amendments back on the table. They are as important to reform as administrative changes.
I'll be glad to take questions. Thank you.