Government Transparency Lacking: Newspapers Canada's Freedom of Information Audit

A total refusal to release contracts in Winnipeg, Quebec’s denial of basic accountability information about top officials’ spending, passenger manifests for Ontario’s executive aircraft, and the federal government’s stubborn refusal to release data in a useful form are just some of the findings of the Newspapers Canada sixth annual National Freedom of Information Audit, which tests the openness of governments across the country.

The National Freedom of Information Audit is the largest and most comprehensive survey of its kind in Canada and the only annual, live test of the freedom-of-information system in this country. In total, 354 requests on 40 topics were sent to all three levels of government as well as to crown corporations and hospitals. At each level of government there were several identical requests. Institutions were not told they were being audited. The audit grades institutions on the speed and completeness of their responses.

“Because many of the requests were identical, the audit offers a unique comparison of different FOI handling across the country,” said Newspapers Canada chief executive officer John Hinds. “The audit shines a light on uneven practices that are not in line with the spirit of the legislation.”

The project was led by Fred Vallance-Jones, assistant professor of journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax. A student audit team submitted and tracked the requests from January to May 2011.

Once again, one of the worst performances was by federal institutions, although they completed 61 per cent of requests within 30 days compared to 50 per cent the year before. Of the provinces/territories, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Yukon were the fastest responders, while B.C. was the slowest. Unlike most provinces, B.C. allows 30 business days to respond to access requests instead of 30 calendar days.

The results also show that some governments are far more transparent than others, especially on how money is spent with private contractors. For example, Winnipeg said contracts were confidential and off limits. There were also wide variations in willingness to release credit card statements or travel claims of senior officials.

To read the report in full, click on the link below.

2011 FOI Audit (January to May 2011) by Newspapers Canada