Letter to the Information Commissioner of Canada (June 3, 2020)

Ms. Caroline Maynard
Information Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 1H3
Caroline.Maynard@oic-ci.gc.ca

Ms. Maynard:

Thank you for your two emails, dated April 2 and April 28, 2020, reminding us of the importance of documenting decisions and recommending measures to reduce the pressures on the access to information system during these extraordinary times.

With respect to your comments on the importance of documenting government decisions in these unprecedented times, while our Government’s priority is the COVID-19 response and the provision of critical services, our Government is committed to managing its information securely and effectively, in a way that ensures accountability, and facilitates openness and transparency, and maintains Canadians’ right of access to government records.

I am pleased to note that on April 29, 2020, the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) published guidance for employees on information management practices while working remotely. This guidance is meant to reinforce employees’ awareness of their responsibility to document decisions of business value and to ensure that government information is managed securely and effectively with respect to legislative and policy requirements, including the requirements of the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

In addition, over the course of this past year, TBS worked with departments to ensure they understood the policy requirements with respect to the Policy on Service and Digital that came into effect on April 1, 2020. This policy and the accompanying Directive on Service and Digital and DRAFT Guideline on Service and Digital outline comprehensive information management requirements that are in place to ensure that employees document decisions and activities of business value, and manage government information and data appropriately.

TBS is also actively engaging with departments via online communities of practice and other channels to raise awareness of information management requirements and to respond to questions and concerns. We will continue to make employees aware of their information management responsibilities.

Over the coming weeks, TBS will work with Library and Archives Canada and the Canada School of Public Service to put into place a toolkit that includes resources to support better information management practices across government, with a particular focus on how to ensure activities and decisions of business value made outside of government networks are captured and saved in the appropriate corporate repositories.

I appreciate, as well, the recommendations that you shared with me on April 28, 2020 concerning measures to address the impact of COVID-19 on the access to information system.

As you are aware, the exceptional measures we have taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 have had an impact on all of the Government’s operations. This includes institutions’ capacity to respond to access to information and personal information requests, since most employees are now working from their homes, without full access to documents and to the information systems that they would usually use to respond to requests. Government institutions are doing what they can, within their individual circumstances, to respond to these requests. I am aware that some institutions with greater operational capacity are offering to provide electronic records to requesters, where paper records cannot currently be accessed. In some institutions, dedicated ATIP Office staff are accessing the network afterhours to be able to advance the work on requests packages. Other institutions are utilizing e-post where possible to facilitate providing responses to requesters.

As workplace restrictions begin to be lifted and capacity can be increased, I can assure you that ATIP Offices will be addressing these outstanding requests.

Consistent with your recommendations, we will also examine whether investments could assist in addressing any backlog as a result of COVID-19. The Government is already planning improvements to the ATIP Online Request Service to make the receipt, processing and delivery of requests more secure and efficient. Work is also underway to enable electronic delivery of completed request packages to Canadians through a secure site, streamlining the process and avoiding paper and compact discs.

Parallel to this, the Government is undertaking a procurement process to ensure modern ATIP request processing software is available to government institutions.

Finally, you have noted the importance of proactive publication of information related to the pandemic to provide transparency to Canadians. The Government has committed to making information related to COVID-19, proactively available online using the Open Government Portal. As announced by the Prime Minister on April 17, 2020, the Portal will host open data related to the applications received and processed under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

The upcoming review of the Access to Information Act will be an opportunity to have an open exchange of ideas on these issues, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in that regard.

Again, you have my commitment that government institutions will continue to respect good information management practices and strive to maintain openness and transparency during these extraordinary times.

Once again, thank you for writing to me on this subject and please accept my best regards.

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P.