Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today on this bill, which is aimed at ensuring that the Access to Information Act applies to all Crown corporation.
The corporations not presently covered by this legislation are such bodies as NavCanada, which is responsible for everything relating to air traffic control. What could be more important in terms of safety than air traffic control?
There was a strike at Canada Post last fall. Labour, management and the Canadian postal system in general all suffered as a result. The public has many questions about the administration of this organization. We are not even entitled to obtain certain types of information about this crown corporation which we would if it were a department, although it needs to be at least as accountable to the public, if not more.
The same applies to Atomic Energy Canada. I have been rereading a speech by the hon. member for Wentworth—Burlington, who is a Liberal. He is in favour of this bill. One of the points he made is that, if all crown corporations were governed by the Access to Information Act, they could not be competitive in their respective fields. Another Liberal refuted this.
I will quote part of section 18 of the current Access to Information Act:
- The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains:
(a) trade secrets or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that belongs to the Government of Canada or a government institution and has substantial value or is reasonably likely to have substantial value;
This is proof that what my hon. colleague who spoke before me said was incorrect. If the Access to Information Act applied to all crown corporations, they would still have protection for confidential information and information not of public interest. At the same time, these corporations should be answerable to the public in areas on which they are not required to provide information at the present time.
In that sense, I am rather amazed to see members oppose this motion, when, about this time last year, they unanimously passed a motion to ensure that all crown corporations are subject to the Privacy Act.
Today, we have before us a bill with a similar intent. This bill also arises from a recommendation made by the Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General. In a report entitled “Open and Shut: Enhancing the right to know and the right to privacy”, the committee recommended that the government make this kind of changes to ensure that the Access to Information Act applied to all crown corporations.
It is fair to say that the Access to Information Act is one of the finest achievements of our society. It was developed in the 1970s and 1980s to counter the bureaucratic steamroller.
The more regulations and procedures there are, the harder it is for ordinary citizens to find out about their rights and responsibilities in society. The Access to Information Act gives them equal access to relevant information.
Naturally, governments soon realized that this tool could prove dangerous. It often brings to light information that could embarrass the government, that could help reveal social inequities and injustices.
The federal government did not follow through on its initial rush to liberalize information and started at the same time to create crown corporations. This must be seen as a rather significant element.
When the Access to Information Act was passed, most crown corporations were subject to the act. The number of crown corporations has since grown considerably. This may be justified for reasons of efficiency. In certain regards, crown corporations may actually carry out their mandate more efficiently than a department would. However, no provision was made in the legislation to also make these corporations subject to the Access to Information Act. A provision to that effect should have been included in the act.
We realized, at least I did, when we reviewed the legislation establishing NavCanada, that this was not an oversight, but a decision made deliberately by the current government, so that these agencies would not be accountable.
NavCanada is a corporation responsible for air safety. There are going to be, as we saw in New Brunswick last fall, airplane accidents, incidents that will impact on insurance and also on the public, which needs to feel safe about air transportation. So, there are many important elements of apparent justice that are not present in this case.
Let me give you another example. A few years ago, Canada Post unscrupulously shut down many rural post offices. This required a change of government, as well as a moratorium supported by 1,500 municipalities.
If those who review the work of Canada Post, and also the citizens who suffer a prejudice because of certain situations, could invoke the Access to Information Act, they would have access to documents and information that do not deal with the competitiveness of the corporation, but that would be very helpful in bringing about more compassionate and realistic decisions that take people's situation into account. The idea is really to restore a balance between the bureaucracy and what people expect in terms of accountability.
NavCanada and Canada Post are very telling examples.
If the government decided to pass this bill, it would really help counter the negative aspect associated with the creation of crown corporations. As I said earlier, there are positive aspects, but there are also negative ones.
When we deal with public servants who know their legislation, these people can often explain it very well. However, their point of view is not always the same as that of the citizen who feels he has been wronged. Citizens can currently ask a department to produce documents. The Access to Information Act is not always easy to administer. It is complex.
Members of Parliament are aware of that. Whenever we make inquiries about controversial issues, the government takes as long as it can to come up with an answer, and it provides as little information as possible. Still, the act is an important tool, because if we did not have it, if it were not specified that departments have to give us this information, we would never get it. The same situation applies to crown corporations. Their numbers are growing.
For example, what will the revenue department look like in the future? There is talk of a new tax collection agency. If this agency has a status similar to that of a crown corporation, will the government require that it be subject to the Access to Information Act? If so, that would be very good because it would provide some balance for the taxpayer.
But I doubt it. In the past, each time new crown corporations were established, the list of those that are not subject to the Access to Information Act grew longer, while the list of those that come under the act became shorter. For several years now, no crown corporation has been added to the list of those that are subject to the Access to Information Act.
This bill reflects one member's concern, which is understandable since last year, in the same spirit, the House unanimously supported my motion that the government make all crown corporations subject to the Privacy Act. I think this bill would complement this effort and give Canadians a voice they currently lack in government.