Evidence of meeting #28 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 requests.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
It said they needed to be revisited, and it went on to imply that her powers were being abused, insofar as they “are meant to be a measure of last resort” but have been used on a “steadily increas[ing]” basis.
If the government just complied with the law, perhaps it wouldn't be necessary for the Information Commissioner to—
Conservative
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you.
I'm sorry to interrupt my colleague. He was on a roll, but it's my turn now.
I'd like to welcome all the witnesses and thank them for being here.
Several questions were asked of the officials from the Treasury Board Secretariat. It's not that I'm not interested, but I only have five minutes, so I will ask questions of the officials from Library and Archives Canada instead.
I believe your organization is facing a few challenges, and that's what I'd like you to comment on.
What factors explain why Library and Archives Canada receives a higher volume of access to information requests from the federal government? How have the requests evolved over the past few years?
Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Library and Archives of Canada
Thank you for the question.
I must say that the changes made to the Access to Information Act have put pressure on Library and Archives Canada. However, our role should be properly understood.
We hold historical records from the federal government. In addition, most of our collections are made up of paper documents stored in boxes. In our collections, we have 250 linear kilometres of archived documents. We also have digital documents, but it is much more complex to find analog documents to answer questions. We have documents from 300 federal institutions, which is a large number of specialized areas. We've started getting a lot more requests, but also larger and more complex ones. We also have information that is classified as secret or top secret.
My colleague Jennifer Schofield could add some more technical details about our current situation.
Jennifer Schofield Assistant Deputy Minister, Collections Sector, Library and Archives of Canada
I would reinforce that less than 5% of our collection right now is digitized, so it is a huge volume of paper. When a request comes in and we respond to that request, we digitize those records. Those have to be found in the box and then brought to Ottawa to be processed.
The digitization process of historical records can be very complicated. The paper is often very fragile. There are often problems with mould, so mould remediation also needs to take place before they are digitized. These are things that you don't see in a typical access to information office or in a response to that. Of course, we are trying to do all of that within 30 days, so it is a doubly complex process.
Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Library and Archives of Canada
If I could quickly add, many of the records—historically, the older records—are handwritten in script, so people have to be able to interpret those records.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I hope they're well written and actually readable. I can well imagine.
How does Library and Archives Canada's responsibility for records created by other departments differ fundamentally from that of departments that respond to their own access to information requests? You talked a bit about the fact that you have everyone's documents, but how is your responsibility different?
Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Library and Archives of Canada
I'll turn to Jennifer.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Collections Sector, Library and Archives of Canada
The records we receive from government departments are all subject to the Access to Information Act. We are not necessarily the experts on the content of the material, as they originate from, as Leslie mentioned, over 300 organizations. We have invested in a historical research team. That is their full function. They research the material that's in these records in order to process it for release. Because of the very broad subject matter, that adds a complication on behalf of LAC when processing under access to information.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Rochon, not that long ago, in January 2026, in a letter to the President of the Treasury Board providing an update on the progress of the Access to Information Act review, the Information Commissioner indicated that since taking office in 2018, she has seen a steady decline in Canada's access to information system. She also indicated that it did not fulfill its primary purpose. To support her statement, she referred to the most recent Treasury Board statistics.
In the letter, the commissioner also states, “The public’s right to know is fundamental to our democracy, and any review must strengthen that right.” Therefore, it cannot be decreased under the guise of budget cuts.
The commissioner has not received a response to her letter. That's not a trivial matter. Does she have to make a request? It makes no sense. In the midst of a review, someone like the Information Commissioner took the trouble to write a letter. We're halfway through February, and there's no response to the letter. How do you respond to the commissioner's concerns?
Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
First of all, I have the same concerns. As I said earlier, I meet with the commissioner every six weeks precisely to talk to her and keep her informed of the launch of the consultations. She knows that very well. We actually had a draft that was part of an access to information request. Unfortunately, there were complications.
We're trying to set up the consultations. At the same time, we want to implement the changes made to the Access to Information Act. We're trying to implement both things at the same time.
Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
First off, we are consulting with indigenous groups. We've already started, despite whatever complications remain.
I will continue in English, because I have the terminology in English. I apologize for that.
The consultations will ultimately go out to the stakeholders, who have already commented on various aspects of the Access to Information Act over the past three or four or five years, so we already know the main areas. Hence, we've already identified which areas, and we'll be going out with a full consultation. The last time we did this, those consultations took two years.
We don't want to spend another two years on it. I think the Information Commissioner explained to us that we need to move quickly, because we don't know where the loopholes in the act are.
Bloc
Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
Am I an ally? She is, after all, an officer of Parliament. She is independent. My answer is yes, in the sense that—
Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
Absolutely.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
—when it comes to the institution?
How are you going to reconcile the budget cuts that will have to be made within the public service with the ability to fully maintain an access to information system that will remain functional and live up to the aspirations of people who actually care about democracy and its vitality in our society?
