Information & Ethics committee  If I understand your question correctly, a request for a list of individuals who had been granted a particular type of permit would certainly be denied outright because the request relates to people's personal information.

Information & Ethics committee  The RCMP is not required to go through the Access to Information Act to obtain information. It will seek out the information in its official capacity using its network of police services and other federal institutions. It doesn't need to use the act at all.

Information & Ethics committee  In an ideal world, the 30 days currently prescribed would be enough time to respond to a relatively simple request, one that doesn't involve a mountain of records from a particular department. I'm talking about a clearly laid out request dealing with a specific topic. Whether the

Information & Ethics committee  I haven't come across any that took 10 years, but I've seen five years. A lot of requests take between one and five years to get resolved, and that's true for a number of departments. Take, for example, the complaint we filed in 2012, which I mentioned earlier. It took five or s

Information & Ethics committee  The wait times are due to all kinds of things. In some cases, the delays don't have to do with all of the requested information. Some requests are prickly because they involve information belonging to third parties such as companies, which are, themselves, subject to an access t

Information & Ethics committee  I would have no hesitation to answer your question in regard to the Office of the Information Commissioner, where these figures are public. For each one of the federal institutions, I would need more data before I could pronounce on it, and it's data that I don't have.

Information & Ethics committee  If that question is for me, in a typical request that we would put in, normally we would indicate whether we wanted to have the records electronically or sent by regular mail. If it is sent by CD-ROMs and we have a number of them, the act provides that the information coordinat

Information & Ethics committee  Well, the act provides at the moment for an information coordinator in a given department to waive fees. If there was an issue of fees being an obstacle to obtaining and exercising the right of access, it's already provided for. The report indicates that last year, I think roug

Information & Ethics committee  The short answer is no, I don't think so.

Information & Ethics committee  The answer is yes, absolutely. The access to information regime is the only legal way for an individual like you or me, or an organization, to access information controlled by the government. It's the only available legal avenue. People can submit requests for all sorts of reaso

Information & Ethics committee  I couldn't tell you.

Information & Ethics committee  That is possible in a wide range of circumstances. I'm not a public safety expert, but depending on the nature, purpose or requirements of the contract, it may be in the government's interest not to disclose certain information, such as the value of the contract, the parties invo

Information & Ethics committee  The answer is yes. As I pointed out, the Access to Information Act sets out 13 exemptions, including national security in all its glory. Those exemptions are interpreted differently and can apply to cabinet confidence or certain personal information. When an ATI request involve

Information & Ethics committee  It's not just on a need-to-know basis, but also on a legal need-to-know basis, as per the act.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm amused, as well. I couldn't say. I'd have to know what the trailers were being used for. I'd need more specifics.