Letter to Cabinet – The importance of providing transparency and accountability to Canadians (May 27, 2020)

Dear colleagues:

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your continuing efforts to respond to the unprecedented public health crisis posed by COVID-19. Extraordinary efforts are being made across the entire government, both to respond to the pandemic and to maintain government operations, and I am grateful for your work and that of the entire public service. As you lead your institutions through these exceptional circumstances, I would like to remind you of the continuing importance of providing transparency and accountability to Canadians, even in times of crisis. It is paramount to the confidence of Canadians in the institutions that serve them.

While our attention is rightly focused on responding to the pandemic and mitigating its impact on Canadians and our economy, we must keep in mind the importance of documenting government decisions in these unprecedented times in a way that ensures accountability and reflects our values of openness and transparency. The Prime Minister highlighted our shared commitment to open, effective and transparent government in each of our mandate letters. On May 5th, I shared with the Information Commissioner of Canada our commitment to maintaining strong information management systems to meet our obligations to Canadians.

As many of our offices and departmental employees are now working remotely, and those carrying out non-essential work have been asked to minimize the use of government networks, it is important that we are all reminded of the importance of managing government information securely and effectively. Proper information management practices will ensure that information can be used to support decision-making and improve services for Canadians, while also upholding Canadians’ right to access Government of Canada information, and ensuring that the privacy of personal information is protected.

To assist your organizations in this regard, I remind you that the Policy and Directive on Service and Digital came into effect on April 1, 2020 and outlines a number of requirements in respect of the management of information and data as a strategic asset of the Government of Canada. The Chief Information Officers of your institutions have specific accountabilities, working collaboratively with other officials across your organization to implement the Policy. Guidance for all employees was published on April 29, 2020 on Canada.ca as a reminder of our collective responsibilities on information management.

These responsibilities include effectively managing and safeguarding Government of Canada information in their care, documenting activities and decisions of business value, identifying what information has business value, and ensuring that this information is stored in designated corporate repositories. It also means ensuring that information is communicated and managed securely, and in accordance with its sensitivity.

I understand that workplace measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health and well-being of federal employees and the public has had an impact on institutions’ ability to respond to access to information requests. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has issued guidance to institutions to encourage them to continue to make best efforts to respond to requests, in accordance with operational realities in their organization; and to make best efforts to advise requesters of possible delays given reduced capacity.

Finally, I wish to note the importance of proactive publication of information related to the pandemic to provide transparency to Canadians. As announced by the Prime Minister on April 17, 2020, the Government has committed to making information related to COVID-19 proactively available online using the Open Government Portal. The Portal will host open data on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit as a start and continue to increase open data holdings as they become available. I am encouraging Ministers to have their institutions proactively publish as much information as possible on the Open Government Portal as soon as is feasible for your institution.

The upcoming review of the Access to Information Act will be an opportunity to have an open exchange of ideas on how to maintain the openness and transparency of government, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in that regard. I want to conclude by thanking you again for your continuing efforts to respond to the unprecedented public health crisis posed by COVID-19 in accordance with our values of providing effective, transparent and accountable government for Canadians.

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P.
President of the Treasury Board