Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much for this opportunity. I'm honoured by it. I know your time is very valuable. I have nothing more to add at this moment. The report speaks for itself. I humbly ask the Prime Minister to enact his very enlightened promises on ATI Act reform he raised in 2006.

Information & Ethics committee  Indeed, I could add that of 68 nations with FOI laws, there are at least 38 with some form of public interest override, and most of those include health and safety matters. So it is a standard.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll just add that the required action is simple. The Prime Minister in 2006 had the foresight to see what needed to be done, in the eight promises on ATI Act reform that he raised in the election campaign. If he fulfilled these, they would mainly raise Canada up to global standards.

Information & Ethics committee  The other speakers can speak better to that, but the informal default position seems to be more closed than open, overall.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, I agree that it would be a good start, and it would be great to see the Prime Minister try it and see what occurs as a result. I think it might be positive.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, his declarations are on the White House website. He has issued a direction from the very top, which one would hope could be done in Canada, as well, that “The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure because errors and failures might be revealed or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

Information & Ethics committee  And so on. You perhaps have the list of eight pledges before you. I would hope those would all be fulfilled.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, Madam, that is in fact true. I wish they would go further and cover the at least 100 that are not covered, such as the nuclear waste industry and the Canadian Blood Agency as well. It was a step forward, and we do appreciate that. And of course no FOI advocate ever expects to get everything they want quickly.

Information & Ethics committee  If I could add to this briefly, it's worth noting that the FOI statutes of 16 other jurisdictions grant an independent administrative appeal body the power to order record release. This includes Mexico, India, New Zealand, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. Some critics say we don't need to amend the law because all we need to do is better enforce the ATI law we have now.

Information & Ethics committee  I am pleased to see crown corporations and their subsidiaries and several foundations added to the coverage in the accountability act. This accounts for about one-half of one of the eight promises for accountability. Of course I can quote the other seven and a half that were not fulfilled, such as those that a Conservative government will “implement the Information Commissioner's recommendations for reform of the Access to Information Act; give the Information Commissioner the power to order the release of information; expand the coverage of the act to all Crown corporations, Officers of Parliament, foundations”--

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, please. On the matter of the listeria case, I must say that in several countries there's a public interest override that records concerning health and safety must be released immediately, without delay, proactively. I wish it had been done in this case. There can be no more serious issue with regard to an ATI request than listeria, a problem that resulted in 20 deaths last year.

Information & Ethics committee  I have one comment on that, if I have time. In Canada's original freedom of information bill, Bill C-15 of 1979, cabinet confidences were subject to a mandatory exemption, not an exclusion. That was an enlightened early draft, and I hope the current ATI Act could return to that.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, please. With respect, I cannot agree with the comments of the government member on March 9 that permitting foreign citizens to use our FOI law might harm our national security. I believe such fears are groundless for at least three reasons. First, it is true that along with Canada, several nations, such as Pakistan and Zimbabwe, do not permit foreign citizens to use FOI laws, but the vast majority in the world do.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Greeting to the committee members. I am very pleased and honoured to be speaking to you today from Vancouver. I shall spare you my French language skills, of which I sadly have almost none—although I am trying to change that. I am the author of the book Fallen Behind: Canada’s Access to Information Act in the World Context.