Archived: 2014-2015 report: Access to Information Act, Environment Canada

Introduction

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The Access to Information Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1) came into force on July 1, 1983. The Act grants Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and persons residing in Canada the right to access information in records held by the federal government, except for types of information falling under the exemptions or exclusions. Section 72 of the Act requires every head of a federal government institution to submit a report to Parliament on the administration of the Act within their institution during the fiscal year.

This report is submitted in accordance with section 72 of the Act. It presents an overview of Access to Information Activities carried out within Environment Canada during the reporting period of April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. Further, since the Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency was not operational during this reporting period, an Agency report will not be prepared for this period.

The Department of the Environment was established by the Government Reorganization Act (1970-71-72, c. 42) on June 10, 1971. A number of acts and regulations provide the Department with its mandate and allow it to carry out its programs. Under the Department of the Environment Act, the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of the Environment extend to and include matters relating to:

• the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality;
• renewable resources, including migratory birds and other non-domestic flora and fauna;
• water;
• meteorology;
• the enforcement of any rules or regulations made by the International Joint Commission relating to boundary waters; and
• the coordination of the policies and programs of the Government of Canada respecting the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment.

Organizational Structure

The Director General of the Corporate Secretariat is Environment Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, and has delegated authority on all matters concerning Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP). The ATIP Division, which is a part of the Corporate Secretariat, is the central coordinating body for all requests received by Environment Canada under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The ATIP Division directs all activities within Environment Canada relating to the administration, application and promotion of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It provides advice to senior management on the implementation of the statutes and prepares reports to Parliament, the Treasury Board Secretariat and senior management. The ATIP Division represents the Department in complaints and investigations conducted by the Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and in any Federal Court applications arising from ATIP matters.

The ATIP Division is currently comprised of 17 officers. In 2014-2015, Environment Canada completed the design and implementation of a new Access to Information and Privacy organizational structure in order to improve capacity and meet future needs.

Capacity Development

Environment Canada remains committed to recruiting, training and maintaining a workforce that possesses specialized skills and that will continue to provide the best possible service to both internal and external clients.

With the completion of the new ATIP Division organizational structure, Environment Canada undertook several staffing activities to fill the newly created positions. It is anticipated that these additional resources will be in place early in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

Environment Canada is also continuing to focus on developing capacity through its ATIP Professional Development Program. The program aims to train employees over a period of three to five years through a combination of competency-based training, professional development training and work assignments. Candidates enter the program at the PM-01 or PM-02 level and graduate as Senior ATIP Advisors at the PM-04 level. Current participants are progressing through the program.

The Professional Development Program is enabling the ATIP Division to better manage increasing workloads while facilitating succession planning through the transfer of corporate memory. The program also encourages staff to remain with the Department for a longer period of time.

Delegation Order

Decision-making responsibility for the application of the various provisions of the Access to Information Act has been formally established and is outlined in the departmental Delegation of Authority Instrument. The current Designation Order was approved by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, on September 17, 2013. A copy of the designation order pertaining to the Access to Information Act can be found in Appendix B of this report.

Interpretation of the Statistical Report

Environment Canada’s Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is included in Appendix A of this report.

Between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015, Environment Canada received 1,488 requests under the Access to Information Act. There were 222 requests carried forward from the 2013–2014 reporting period, for a total of 1,710 active requests in the 2014–2015 reporting period. In 2014–2015, a total of 1,452 requests were completed, and 258 were carried forward to the next reporting period.

Figure 1 is a percentage breakdown of the sources of access to information requests received in 2014–2015:

During the 2014–2015 reporting period, 90 requests were abandoned by applicants for various reasons, including the requirement to pay additional fees.

There were 858 requests for information for which there was no record. Environment Canada receives a number of requests each year for documents pertaining to the environmental compliance of properties. Most of these no record requests consisted of environmental compliance requests where no records were located concerning the properties in question.

In 2014–2015, Environment Canada received 1,488 requests under the Access to Information Act. This represents a 2% increase over the previous reporting period.

Figure 2 displays the number of access to information requests that were received by the ATIP Division from 2009–2010 to 2014–2015.

The number of access to information requests that were closed by the ATIP Division from 2009–2010 to 2014–2015 is found in figure 3.

In the 2014–2015 reporting period, 110,557 pages of records were retrieved in response to Access to Information requests which represents a decrease of 40% over the 2013–2014 fiscal year. This decrease can be attributed in part to the work undertaken by the ATIP Division to consult with applicants in order to clarify the scope of requests to ensure applicants receive information of interest.

The number of pages processed by the ATIP Division in response to requests under the Access to Information Act from 2009–2010 to 2014–2015 is found in figure 4.

Exemptions and Exclusions

The Access to Information Act prescribes a number of exemptions and exclusions that allow or require the Department to refuse to disclose certain types of information. The two most common exemptions invoked by Environment Canada in 2014–2015 were for personal information (section 19) and government operations (section 21). In 2014–2015, exemptions and/or exclusions were cited in 25% of the completed requests where documents were located.

Time Limitations

During the 2014–2015 reporting period, 1,047 (72%) of the completed requests were processed within the initial 30-day period. This included 725 requests completed in the first 15 days, and 322 requests completed between 16 and 30 days.

Figure 5 is a breakdown of completion times for requests completed during the 2014–2015 reporting period.

A total of 163 requests were completed beyond the legislated deadline. Of the 163 late requests, 55 requests were late as a result of the need to conduct external consultations.

In 2014-2015, Environment Canada undertook 19 consultations with Environment Canada’s Legal Services to confirm cabinet confidence exclusions.

Extension of Time Limits

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act allows government institutions to extend the deadline for responding to a request if the request requires the institution to search a large number of records, to consult with other government institutions, or to communicate with third parties.

In 2014–2015, 202 requests required extensions of 30 days or less, 282 required an extension of between 31 and 60 days, and 55 required an extension of between 61 to 120 days. There were two requests that required extensions of more than 180 days. In total, 541 requests required an extension past the original deadline of 30 days. The main reason for extensions was due to the requirement to conduct a large search or the high volume of records involved in completing requests.

Complexity of Files

A number of files were considered complex for various reasons. Of the 1,452 requests closed during the 2014–2015 reporting period, 413 were considered to be complex. There were 240 requests that were complex due to the need to conduct consultations, 83 requests were considered complex due to the assessment of fees, 36 requests required legal advice, and 54 requests were classified in the “other” category. The “other” category consists of files containing high-profile subject matter, records held in a regional office or another country, or records that are in a language other than French or English.

Consultations

As an integral part of departmental processing procedures, other government institutions are consulted if access requests contain issues of interest to them. Although formal consultations are undertaken in writing, additional discussions between ATIP offices are initiated as required in order to facilitate the completion of each case. Consultations are also regularly undertaken with third parties and other levels of government.

In 2014–2015, Environment Canada received 200 access to information consultations from other federal government institutions and 25 consultations from other organizations for a total of 225 consultations received. This constitutes an 18% increase relative to the previous reporting period. There were 11 access consultations outstanding from the previous reporting period. During the 2014–2015 reporting period, 223 access consultations were completed which is an increase of 9% compared with the previous reporting period. Fifteen (15) access consultations were carried forward to the 2015-2016 reporting period.

Figure 6 provides the number of access to information consultations that were received by the ATIP Division from 2009–2010 to 2014–2015.

The number of access to information consultations that were closed by the ATIP Division from 2009–2010 to 2014–2015 is found in figure 7.

The number of pages processed in response to access to information consultations during the 2014–2015 reporting period decreased over the 2013–2014 reporting period: 6,055 pages were processed for consultations compared to 10,584 pages during the previous period. This is a decrease of 43%.

Figure 8 displays the number of pages processed by the ATIP Division in response to access to information consultations receivedfrom 2009–2010 to 2014–2015.

During the 2014–2015 reporting period, 138 (62%) of the completed access consultations were processed within the initial 30-day period. This included 67 completed in the first 15 days, and 71 completed between 16 and 30 days.

Informal Requests

A summary list of completed Access to Information requests is published on Environment Canada’s website on a monthly basis. Between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015, Environment Canada received 74 informal Access to Information requests for previously released Access to Information packages. Environment Canada completed 69 of these informal requests during the 2014–20145 reporting period and five informal requests were carried forward to 2015-2016.

Furthermore, throughout the year, the ATIP Division provides advice to departmental staff with respect to informal requests, parliamentary questions and the review of draft audit, evaluation, security and harassment reports.

In 2014-2015, the ATIP Division processed 22 Parliamentary Questions which represents a significant increase relative to previous years. As the work involved in processing these Parliamentary Questions was time intensive, we are expecting that our capacity building efforts will address the resulting surge effect.

The ATIP Division also assists other branches of the department in reviewing various documents such as Investigation Reports and Harassment Complaint files in order to ensure that mandatory exemptions such as personal information and cabinet confidence-related information are properly identified, where appropriate. Over the coming year, the ATIP Division will more closely monitor workload implications.

Fees

In the 2014–2015 reporting period, total fees of $13,333 were collected for the processing of 1,448 requests. This consisted of search fees in the amount of $6,238 and application fees totalling $7,095. No other fees were charged for production, preparation or reproduction.

In accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines, Environment Canada waived fees that individually amounted to $25 or less, although no waiver is granted for the initial $5 application fee.

Costs

The costs involved in administering the Access to Information Act were $972,090 for salaries and overtime and $281,931 for goods and services ($117,064 for professional service contracts and $164,867 for other costs). This brings the total costs to $1,254,021.

Training Activities

The ATIP Division provides daily advice to departmental officials on the processing of ATIP requests as well as the interpretation of the Acts to ensure the efficient and consistent processing of all requests received by the Department.

The ATIP Division further continued its formal training and development activities in the 2014–2015 reporting period. Thirty one (31) information and training sessions were held, attended by approximately 450 Environment Canada employees. The sessions included an overview of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act as well as a description of internal procedures and associated deadlines for responding to requests. Information and training activities will continue throughout the 2015–2016 reporting period.

In addition, Information Management awareness presentations are available online to Environment Canada employees, which include an Access to Information and Privacy module. Approximately 200 employees downloaded the Information Management presentations in 2014–2015.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Reporting

Policy Framework

Environment Canada’s access to information policy framework was approved in November 2012. In 2014-2015 Environment Canada began a review of its ATIP Policy Suite, this work will conclude in the coming year.

In 2014-2015, an ATIP analyst reference guide was created for use within the division. This guide is intended to help standardize internal practices and procedures in order to improve efficiency. The ATIP Division also began work on the development of an ATIP handbook to assist departmental employees in responding to requests under the Access to Information Act. This guidance document will be completed in 2015-2016.

Reporting

The ATIP Division regularly monitors the timeliness and trends associated with the processing of requests through ongoing communication with Branch and Directorate liaison contacts. In addition, a monthly ATIP update and quarterly trends report are provided to Environment Canada’s Executive Management Committee.

Publicly Accessible Information and Inquiry Points

Info Source is a series of publications containing information on the Government of Canada and on the government’s data collection activities. Info Source is intended to help the public access government information and to exercise their rights under the Privacy Act and Access to Information Act.

Each year, the ATIP Division prepares updates on Environment Canada’s activities and information holdings for publication in Info Source which is published on the Department’s website. During 2014–2015, Environment Canada made minor revisions to its Info Source chapter. A full review of the Info Source chapter based on the Department’s updated Program Activity Architecture is scheduled for 2015-2016.

Environment Canada’s comprehensive website provides information on the Department’s policies, its organizational structure and the means to contact Department officials. In accordance with the federal government’s policy of proactive disclosure, the Department’s website also allows access to internal evaluations and audits, as well as information on hospitality expenses, contracts and grants.

Environment Canada’s website also has an Access to Information and Privacy webpage that provides background information on both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It also contains a Frequently Asked Questions section and links to access to information request forms, personal information request forms and summaries of completed access to information requests.

In order to facilitate public access to information and to comply with the Act, the Environment Canada Library has been designated a public reading room. The Library is located on the 1st floor of the Place Vincent Massey Annex, 351 St. Joseph Boulevard, Gatineau, Quebec.

Online Request Service

In April 2014, Environment Canada joined the Treasury Board Secretariat Online Request Service Pilot Project. This initiative aims to make the process of requesting government records simpler and more convenient by enabling Canadians to submit their ATIP requests and application fees online. Environment Canada received 398 Access to Information requests online during the 2014–2015 reporting period. We expect the number of online requests to increase significantly over the coming year as applicants become more familiar with the online service.

Complaints, Audits, Investigations and Appeals

Applicants have the right to register a complaint with the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding any matter relating to the processing of a request.

As noted in Table 1, during the 2014–2015 reporting period, 24 complaints were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada against Environment Canada. Environment Canada provided representations to the Office of the Information Commissioner in 19 complaints and received a report of findings or recommendations in 10 of these complaints.

Ten (10) complaints received in 2014-2015, as well as 13 complaints from previous reporting periods were completed in 2014–2015, for a total of 23 complaints closed. Fourteen (14) complaints received in this reporting period and 29 complaints from previous years remain outstanding.

Table 2 provides a breakdown of the reasons for and results of the complaints that were completed in 2014–2015.

Explanation of the Results of Investigations

• Well founded: The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) found evidence of the complainant’s rights being denied under the Access to Information Act. It was necessary for the OIC to report the finding of the investigation and provide recommendations where appropriate.
• • Well founded, resolved without recommendations: The institution took remedial action to the satisfaction of the OIC during the course of the investigation. The OIC did not need to provide a recommendation to the head of the institution.
  • Well founded, with recommendations – resolved: If the head of the institution accepted the OIC recommendations and remedial action was taken by the institution to the satisfaction of the OIC, the matter is considered resolved and no further action by the OIC is necessary.
  • Well founded, with recommendations – not resolved: If the head of the institution did not accept the recommendations of the OIC, or if the remedial action was not to the satisfaction of the OIC, the complainant will be informed that the matter is not resolved and the complainant, or the OIC with the complainant’s consent, can pursue the matter in court, where the matter relates to a refusal.
• Not well founded: As a result of the investigation, the OIC found that the institution applied the Access to Information Act correctly.
• Discontinued: The complaint was withdrawn or abandoned by the complainant before allegations were fully investigated.
• Settled: In the case of a minor error, the complaint was settled to the satisfaction of the OIC without the need for the OIC to make a finding.

The department reviews the outcomes of all of the Office of the Information Commissioner investigations and where appropriate, incorporates lessons learned into business processes. There were no recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament during the reporting period.

Applications/Appeals to the Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal

T-828-12 Sheldon Blank v. Minister of the Environment – The application filed pursuant to section 41 of the Access to Information Act in March 2012 was still before the Federal Court of Canada at the end of the reporting period.

Appendix A: Statistical Report

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Environment Canada
Reporting period: 01/04/2014 to 31/03/2015

Part 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

* I.A.: International Affairs; Def.: Defence of Canada; S.A.: Subversive Activities

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3: Extensions

Part 4: Fees

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Part 8: Court Action

Part 9: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

Appendix B: Designation Order Instrument

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order

The Minister of the Environment, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act and section 73 of the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of the Environment as the head of Environment Canada, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Dated, at the City of Gatineau, Quebec, this 17th day of September 2013

(signed)

Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of the Environment