New regulations by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier would further delay Access To Information disclosures that currently stretch into years. The Board, in a Christmas Eve notice, said Canadians seeking public records should be required to show their birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“No consultations were deemed to be necessary,” the Board wrote in a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement. Proposed amendments would rewrite Access To Information Regulations to require that requesters prove they are Canadian..The rules “need to ensure an individual making a request under the Act has the right to do so,” wrote staff. “This includes ensuring the requester is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or a person present in Canada.”.However, no reason was given for the precaution. The Board did not identify how many foreigners posing as Canadians had filed Access To Information requests..Last July 13, the Board issued a directive to public service executives “to confirm the requester is a Canadian citizen,” by requiring them to submit a copy of their passport, citizenship certificate, birth certificate or some other identification. Requesters are currently required only to check a box claiming they are Canadian..The Board served legal notice of the new rule amid an ongoing review of the 1983 Act by the Commons Access To Information committee. Witnesses testifying at a December 7 hearing complained ordinary requests for records are already delayed for years..“Turnaround times are terrible and getting worse,” testified Dean Beeby, a retired Canadian Press reporter. Federal departments and agencies “realize they face much bigger blowback from releasing information than from withholding,” he said..“What is your longest outstanding Access To Information request?” asked Conservative MP Michael Barrett (Leeds-Grenville, ON.). “It would be in the order of 10 years,” replied Beeby..Conservative MP Damien Kurek (Battle River-Crowfoot, Alta.) said concealment of federal records is so commonplace even MPs file hundreds of Access To Information requests a year. “As a Member of Parliament my office and I have filed several hundred Access To Information requests on a whole host of issues from dealing with constituent casework to some of the big political issues of the day,” said Kurek..Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard, the officer of Parliament mandated to oversee compliance with the Act, has described the system as so dysfunctional it is nearly beyond repair. “It is on the brink of being unable to be fixed,” Maynard testified at 2021 hearings of the House of Commons government operations committee.
