Latest news with #DianeMcLeod
CTV News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Privacy commission finds Alberta government failed to follow freedom of information laws
Alberta's privacy commissioner says the UCP has been breaking the rules around freedom of information requests. Alberta's privacy commissioner says the UCP has been breaking the rules around freedom of information requests. Alberta's privacy commissioner said the Government of Alberta has failed in multiple ways to uphold freedom of information policies. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) was passed in 1995 and requires all public bodies, including government bodies, to make eligible information available to the public. 'Access to information rights are the foundation of an individual's ability to exercise their democratic rights by facilitating access to government information,' said Diane McLeod, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, in a report on her findings. 'Accountability is the cornerstone of the exercise of good governance,' she continued. 'Acting accountably within the context of the FOIP Act requires that government administer its responsibilities under the FOIP Act in a manner that not only respects these rights but also adheres to the spirit and intent of the Act.' The report details an investigation launched in regards to 34 requests for review filed over alleged refusals to process access requests by Alberta government public bodies. It found 27 Government of Alberta public bodies failed to uphold FOIP principals, with violations including: Refusing access requests on the basis applicants didn't provide enough information; Requiring applicants to limit the number of topics in a request to one; Limiting the time frame on the search for records; and Requiring applications to split requests containing multiple topics into multiple requests. McLeod also found the Government of Alberta had issued directives and policies that allowed staff to refuse access requests in a way not permitted under the FOIP act. The privacy commissioner made several recommendations to resolve the issues she found and said she expects them to be followed, despite provincial plans to repeal the FOIP act and replace it with the Access to Information Act. 'My findings and recommendations in this report are in large part still valid under the new legislation. This is because the relevant provisions of the new Act are the same or substantially similar to the provisions of the FOIP Act,' McLeod said. 'For that reason, I expect government public bodies to apply my findings and recommendations to their practices under both the existing and the new legislation.' In an email to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said the ministry is considering the privacy commissioner's findings and plans to work with McLeod to address concerns. The full report can be accessed here.
Toronto Star
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Investigation finds Alberta government not complying with freedom of information laws
EDMONTON - Alberta's access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta's government has implemented internal procedures and policies that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. The report, released Friday, follows a two-year investigation sparked by complaints made about the handling of more than 30 individual information requests, many of which were made by The Globe and Mail as part of its investigation into freedom of information systems across Canada. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW McLeod's report says the information requests she reviewed were denied for not providing enough detail, which she determined is not a valid reason under provincial freedom of information laws. Under Alberta's freedom of information rules, government employees have a duty to assist an applicant. If a request doesn't have enough detail to identify records, McLeod said it's up to government staff to seek further information on what is being sought. McLeod wrote that didn't happen for the requests she reviewed for her investigation, which determined all 27 Alberta government departments to be at fault. The report said applicants were asked to narrow down the scope of their request, such as time frame and topic, or submit multiple requests so the government could meet its legislated response window of 30 days. But in many cases, files were actually closed the same day those asks were sent out, the report states. McLeod said this process, which she says violates the 'scheme' of Alberta's freedom of information law, is laid out in an internal government manual called the 'Access Request Playbook.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The manual and the government's attempts to have information requests be reduced in scope are meant to make it easier to fulfill requests, McLeod wrote, but it has made the process unfair since it's 'not the duty of the applicant to make the search easy for the public body.' 'Further, the degree of specificity identified ... as necessary to meet the 'enough detail' threshold ... is simply unattainable by an applicant and, in my view, it is unreasonable for a public body to require such specificity from an applicant when making an access request,' McLeod wrote. 'A member of the general public does not know what records are in the custody or control of a public body. They are not privy to the inner workings of government and, therefore, could not be expected to know specifics about any records held by government.' Osagie Ogunbor, a spokesperson for Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally, said in an email that the ministry is considering McLeod's findings and plans to work with her to address concerns. 'We're committed to openness and transparency, and we are proud of our record,' Ogunbor said, adding that about 97 per cent of freedom of information requests in 2023-24 were handled without complaints to the commissioner's office. McLeod's investigation also found the government unnecessarily refused requests by citing a section of the legislation that allows requests to be denied if creating requested records would unreasonably impede government operations. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Her report says that as part of her investigation, the government submitted its interpretation of the section as meaning that it only 'requires public bodies to provide access to records that already exist' rather than create new records that contain government data. McLeod is recommending the government make a number of changes to its internal policies to ensure requests aren't denied for not providing enough detail, and to ensure government bodies meet their duty to assist applicants. 'I acknowledge that managing the volume of access requests received by government public bodies can be challenging and that resources to do this work are not infinite,' she wrote. 'However, in administering the access to information provisions of the (law), there is only one choice that these public bodies have and that is to administer these provisions ... in such a manner that ensures Albertans are able to effectively exercise these rights.' A news release from the commissioner's office notes that Alberta will soon replace its freedom of information legislation with a new act after a government overhaul took place last year. It says the relevant sections at play are unchanged in the new framework. 'For that reason, I expect government public bodies to apply my findings and recommendations to their practices under both the existing and the new legislation,' McLeod said Ogunbor said that 'many' of the recommendations will be addressed through the new legislation and its regulations. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Investigation finds Alberta government not complying with freedom of information laws
EDMONTON - Alberta's access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta's government has implemented internal procedures and policies that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. The report, released Friday, follows a two-year investigation sparked by complaints made about the handling of more than 30 individual information requests, many of which were made by The Globe and Mail as part of its investigation into freedom of information systems across Canada. McLeod's report says the information requests she reviewed were denied for not providing enough detail, which she determined is not a valid reason under provincial freedom of information laws. Under Alberta's freedom of information rules, government employees have a duty to assist an applicant. If a request doesn't have enough detail to identify records, McLeod said it's up to government staff to seek further information on what is being sought. McLeod wrote that didn't happen for the requests she reviewed for her investigation, which determined all 27 Alberta government departments to be at fault. The report said applicants were asked to narrow down the scope of their request, such as time frame and topic, or submit multiple requests so the government could meet its legislated response window of 30 days. But in many cases, files were actually closed the same day those asks were sent out, the report states. McLeod said this process, which she says violates the 'scheme' of Alberta's freedom of information law, is laid out in an internal government manual called the 'Access Request Playbook.' The manual and the government's attempts to have information requests be reduced in scope are meant to make it easier to fulfill requests, McLeod wrote, but it has made the process unfair since it's 'not the duty of the applicant to make the search easy for the public body.' 'Further, the degree of specificity identified ... as necessary to meet the 'enough detail' threshold ... is simply unattainable by an applicant and, in my view, it is unreasonable for a public body to require such specificity from an applicant when making an access request,' McLeod wrote. 'A member of the general public does not know what records are in the custody or control of a public body. They are not privy to the inner workings of government and, therefore, could not be expected to know specifics about any records held by government.' Osagie Ogunbor, a spokesperson for Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally, said in an email that the ministry is considering McLeod's findings and plans to work with her to address concerns. 'We're committed to openness and transparency, and we are proud of our record,' Ogunbor said, adding that about 97 per cent of freedom of information requests in 2023-24 were handled without complaints to the commissioner's office. McLeod's investigation also found the government unnecessarily refused requests by citing a section of the legislation that allows requests to be denied if creating requested records would unreasonably impede government operations. Her report says that as part of her investigation, the government submitted its interpretation of the section as meaning that it only 'requires public bodies to provide access to records that already exist' rather than create new records that contain government data. McLeod is recommending the government make a number of changes to its internal policies to ensure requests aren't denied for not providing enough detail, and to ensure government bodies meet their duty to assist applicants. 'I acknowledge that managing the volume of access requests received by government public bodies can be challenging and that resources to do this work are not infinite,' she wrote. 'However, in administering the access to information provisions of the (law), there is only one choice that these public bodies have and that is to administer these provisions ... in such a manner that ensures Albertans are able to effectively exercise these rights.' A news release from the commissioner's office notes that Alberta will soon replace its freedom of information legislation with a new act after a government overhaul took place last year. It says the relevant sections at play are unchanged in the new framework. 'For that reason, I expect government public bodies to apply my findings and recommendations to their practices under both the existing and the new legislation,' McLeod said Ogunbor said that 'many' of the recommendations will be addressed through the new legislation and its regulations. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.
CBC
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Investigation finds Alberta government broke its own freedom of information rules
Alberta's access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta's government has implemented internal procedures and policy that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. It says the government has put unnecessary restrictions and limitations on requests in an attempt to make fulfilling them easier. But McLeod says the restrictions make the process unfair for those seeking information and violate the rules set out in legislation. McLeod's report follows a two-year investigation and says all 27 government departments were found to be at fault. The report recommends the government make a number of changes to its internal policies to stop refusing requests unnecessarily.
Calgary Herald
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Alberta government failed to follow access to information rules
In a new report, Alberta's information and privacy commissioner has found that the provincial government relied on policies that broke access to information laws and were used to improperly refuse to process some requests for public records. Article content Article content The report was released Friday and comes after a 21 month-long investigation into how the provincial government handles requests made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP). Article content Article content In the report, Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod outlined how 27 public bodies relied on policies that 'do not align with the purposes of the act', with McLeod noting, 'accountability is the cornerstone of the exercise of good governance.' Article content Article content 'There is only one choice that these public bodies have, and that is to administer these provisions in accordance with the act and in such a manner that ensures Albertans are able to effectively exercise these rights.' Article content The investigation centred around how government departments interpreted three sections of the FOIP act related to the wording of requests, the creation of records in response to requests, and the department's duty to assist the public in accessing records. Article content McLeod found multiple breaches of the act around how the government required requests to be structured, including: limiting requests to one topic, restricting the time frame of the search for records, and splitting requests with multiple topics into several new requests at the cost of more fees. Article content Article content She noted the government refused to combine multiple existing records and create one new record, as required for the act. Article content Departments also did not live up to part of the act requiring them to 'make every reasonable effort to assist applicants' in accessing information, according to the report. Article content McLeod recommended overhauling those policies to better align with the act and improve responses to information requests. Article content The office for Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally acknowledged Postmedia's request for comment Friday afternoon.
