Federal review of access to information law ‘doesn't have credibility,' expert says

Globe and Mail

4 hours ago

The federal government has launched an internal review of its access to information law, but one expert says the examination lacks legitimacy and falls short of the desires of transparency advocates.
In a brief announcement on Friday, the government said it would be seeking feedback from stakeholders 'later in 2025.'
During a press conference last week, a group of public interest advocacy organizations and access experts had called for an independent review of Ottawa's ailing access system. The group, which included academics, lawyers, journalists and activists, had drafted their own terms of reference for the examination.
Matt Malone, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who spearheaded the call for an independent review, said the government 'has no incentive to engage in meaningful reform' and that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the department that oversees the administration of the federal access regime and is conducting the review, is in an 'inherent conflict of interest' since it is itself regulated by access law.
'It's the government completely retaining control,' Prof. Malone continued. 'You can already see from this moment exactly where this process is going. It's going to be a waste of government resources, and it's going to undermine public trust in the government, because they're going to engage in a process that doesn't have credibility from the get-go. Independent stakeholders have said clearly what credibility looks like in this context. The government has said through their actions: 'We're not going to listen to you.''
'This is sad,' he said.
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By law, the Access to Information Act, which governs federal access requests, must be reviewed every five years. The last review was launched in 2020, lasted 2½ years – almost one year longer than its original deadline – and delivered no recommendations, drawing the ire of government transparency experts. At the time, Michael Wernick, who retired as the public service's top bureaucrat in 2019, called the government's final report 'tepid and incrementalist.'
In an e-mailed statement, Treasury Board spokesperson Rola Salem said the government is responsible for evaluating federal access legislation, and that the department intends to 'undertake a more focused and expedited review.'
During the 2025 federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to review Ottawa's access regime. 'An objective review of that would serve Canadians well, regardless of the result of the election,' he said.
Access laws – sometimes called freedom of information or right to information legislation – exist in countries around the world and throughout Canada at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal level.
They enshrine into law the principle that people have a right to know how their public institutions are being run and how tax dollars are being spent. These laws do this by allowing the public to make official requests for documents, which must then be disclosed – with limited exceptions.
In 2023, a Globe and Mail investigation called Secret Canada looked at the state of Canada's access systems, including at the federal level.
The Globe's reporting found that public institutions are routinely breaking access laws by violating statutory time limits, overusing redactions and claiming no records exist when they do. And they face few, if any, consequences for ignoring the precedents set by courts and information commissioners, the government-appointed watchdogs responsible for monitoring the system and mediating disputes.