Evidence of meeting #27 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was institutions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
February 9th, 2026 / 4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Commissioner, last September, a discussion paper from Treasury Board, which is responsible for setting access to information policies, suggested that the government may need to “revisit” your order-making powers. The discussion paper states that your order-making powers “are meant to be a measure of last resort, but their use has steadily increased”. The implication appears to be that somehow you're abusing your order-making powers.
It seems to me that the Treasury Board and this government have it exactly backwards. The problem is not that you are exercising your order-making powers more frequently; the problem is a steady deterioration in the access to information system across government, which has made it necessary for you to issue such orders to direct government departments and institutions to follow the law.
Is that fair?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
I totally agree with your statement.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
Okay. Now, your office issued a statement in December 2025 following this discussion paper from the government, stating that “any 'revisiting' of the order-making power that resulted in a scaling back of this power would represent a step backward for the access to information system.”
Can you elaborate on the degree to which it would be a step backwards and the negative impact it would have on Canadians' ability to access information from this government or the federal government generally?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
The order-making power allows me to stop investigations from going on forever. We are doing our job to make sure that requesters receive a response to their access requests as quickly as possible. There are a lot of discussions with parties: with the requesters, as well as with the institution. If you don't have a way to stop that, at some point something needs to be done.
We try to settle everything or conclude the investigation as informally as possible, but sometimes we have no choice, and the institution has to know that there's a date by which they have to answer the requester, and those orders are necessary for that.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
There was this discussion paper, and you said that you've heard generally that there is consideration of rolling back your powers, important powers that Parliament gave you. Have you heard anything more on that front? Have you had any discussions?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
No. I sent two letters to the President of the Treasury Board to ask when the review will start, and I'm waiting, as is everyone else, to be consulted and to have my chance to make submissions with respect to whatever the paper, policies or recommendations are from government.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
With respect to those letters, you sent one in June 2025 and another in January 2026. Is that right?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
That's right.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
Your letters have not been responded to by the President of the Treasury Board. Has there been no communication whatsoever with the President of the Treasury Board?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
No.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Mr. Cooper.
Mr. Saini, you have five minutes, please.
Liberal
Gurbux Saini Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
In 2019, you were given the powers to order stuff. Is that correct?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
Yes.
Liberal
Gurbux Saini Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
When you compare those powers to other Western countries, like New Zealand, Australia and Britain, where are we effectively?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
We're very similar to Australia, the U.K. and Scotland. Even within Canada, there is the authority to issue orders in British Columbia and Ontario. Then you have other jurisdictions that are still only able to issue recommendations.
Liberal
Gurbux Saini Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
How do you consider our overall access to information laws, which you're responsible for implementing, compared to the other countries' laws? Do they need some improvement?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
We do need to improve the law. I think we're 52 with respect to our legislation in considering the law itself. We definitely need to open it up. As I said earlier, the act is about 42 years old.
In 2019, as you mentioned, the authority to issue orders was given to me. That was a major amendment, and I'm very appreciative of it, but nothing else in the act was looked at, and that's where we're at now.
Liberal
Gurbux Saini Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
You also wanted access to information to be granted to the PMO and ministers' offices. On the controversy we have seen recently in Ontario, what is your view? Is that going to make it better, or is this something in Ontario that's going to become normal?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
Access to information is there to make our government accountable and for Canadians to understand what's going on, so I think this is the right thing to do.
In Ontario, the offices of the ministers and the premier are subject to the act. In Canada, they're not. We don't have that, so I think the act has to be amended to make sure that the people working there, who have been elected by Canadians, are accountable as well for their decisions and for the actions and communications they have within their offices.
Liberal
Gurbux Saini Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you.
With regard to the five-dollar fee, how has that helped the average citizen to get access?
Information Commissioner of Canada, Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada
It's a very low fee. It's one of the lowest in Canada. Sometimes I wonder why I have a fee, because it's probably more expensive to administer the fee than to actually.... In my office, for example, we don't charge the five dollars; we realized it was more work to administer the five-dollar fee. However, it is probably sufficient for people to think about it when they make an access request.
Whether it's sufficient or not is something that I think you have to ask the Treasury Board. Access to information should be free; the five dollars is pretty close. In B.C., it's $25 now to make an access request.
Conservative