Canada’s information czar says feds need to send ‘serious message’ about access innovation amid COVID-19

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard says the limitations some departments are facing to fill access requests, like needing to print out electronic documents, are ‘ridiculous.’

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard says the government needs to send a 'serious message' to departments so they proactively disclose documents and find innovative ways to respond to access requests with COVID-19 likely to add to the backlog. Photograph courtesy of Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

News

BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

May 20, 2020

COVID-19 is expected to cause further delays to an already “overwhelmed” system, warns Canada’s information commissioner, while also calling for stable funding to her office, which already faces a 49 per cent increase in complaints.

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