Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard has warned that Canadians seeking access to public records will face longer delays due to a budget shortfall. Blacklock's Reporter says Maynard is petitioning the cabinet for $700,000 to address what she described as a "structural deficit" in her annual $15.9 million budget.“I am now facing a structural deficit,” Maynard testified before the Commons ethics committee. “This deficit results from rigid formulas the Treasury Board Secretariat used to calculate funding for new collective agreement salary increases.”The $700,000 shortfall covers pay increases for 27 new employees under a contract negotiated by the Treasury Board. “I have multiple court cases to manage as a result of orders I issued against government institutions,” said Maynard. “Now is not the time for bureaucratic penny pinching.”Maynard emphasized the impact of the budget cut, stating, “We are now looking at a total funding shortfall of $700,000 which represents a reduction in my budget of approximately 5%. In concrete terms this will represent a significant portion of my overall IT budget or money to cover the cost of defending my orders in court or funding for a full team of investigators.”She warned that the budget reduction would result in longer delays for complainants seeking information from government institutions. “Basically this reduction in my budget will spell longer delays for complainants who are seeking information from government institutions,” said Maynard. She has petitioned the Treasury Board for “immediate redress of this unacceptable predicament.”Maynard highlighted the importance of access to information, citing the Supreme Court's recognition of the right of access as a quasi-constitutional right. “Yes, government information belongs to Canadians. Unless there are limitations, exemptions, exclusions, that information should be provided to Canadians,” she said.Her office received over 4,000 complaints in the last year regarding the arbitrary concealment of public records, with an ongoing backlog of 3,472 cases, according to Maynard’s last Annual Report to Parliament.In a 2015 Ministerial Mandate letter, the cabinet promised to “ensure the Commissioner is empowered to order government information to be released” and committed to freer disclosure of records sought by the public.“We have promised Canadians a government that will bring real change,” stated the Mandate letter. “We have committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government. It is time to shine more light on government to ensure it remains focused on the people it serves.”The letter also emphasized that “Government and its information should be open by default. If we want Canadians to trust their government, we need a government that trusts Canadians. It is important that we acknowledge mistakes when we make them. Canadians do not expect us to be perfect. They expect us to be honest, open and sincere.”
