Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2015-2016

Chapter I – Report on the Access to Information Act

About Public Safety Canada

The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEP) plays a key role in discharging the Government's fundamental responsibility for the safety and security of its citizens. The Minister of PSEP is responsible for the Department. Legislation governing the Department sets out three essential roles: (i) support the Minister's responsibility for all matters related to public safety and emergency management not assigned to another federal organization; (ii) exercise leadership at the national level for national security and emergency preparedness; and (iii) support the Minister's responsibility for the coordination of Public Safety's Portfolio entities and for setting their strategic priorities.

The Department provides strategic policy advice and support to the Minister of PSEP on a range of issues including: national security, border strategies, countering crime, emergency management and interoperability. The Department also delivers a number of grant and contribution programs related to emergency management, national security and community safety.

Public Safety Canada is organized into five branches: Emergency Management and Programs, Community Safety and Countering Crime, Portfolio Affairs and Communications, National and Cyber Security, Corporate Management; it also has a Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive and are supported by the Legal Services Unit. The Department has regional presence in all provinces, as well as in the North, and are a primary contact in the regions to deliver a coordinated federal response to emergencies; facilitate the effective delivery of emergency management, Aboriginal policing and crime prevention programs; and improve partnerships with other levels of government and key regional stakeholders.

About the Public Safety Portfolio

The Public Safety Portfolio encompasses nine organizations which directly contribute to the safety and security of Canadians. While Portfolio agencies deliver public security operations according to their mandates, Public Safety Canada, in its portfolio coordination role, brings strategic focus to the overall safety and security agenda.  Each organization in the portfolio administers its own access to information and privacy programs, under authorities delegated to them by the Minister.

• Public Safety Canada (PS)
• Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
• Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
• Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)
• Parole Board of Canada (PBC)
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
• RCMP External Review Committee (ERC)
• Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC)
• Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI)

About the Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (the Act) was implemented on July 1, 1983. The goal of the Act was to help further the democratic process by promoting transparency and accountability of government to the Canadian citizenry. The Act creates an enforceable right of access to records under the control of a government in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions with regard to disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government.

Section 72 of the Act requires that the head of every government institution submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act during the financial year. This report outlines how Public Safety Canada administered the Act throughout fiscal year 2015-2016.

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Team

The Access to Information and Privacy Operations Unit (ATIP Operations Unit) and the Policy, Privacy and Training Unit (PPTU) are part of Public Safety Canada’s ATIP and Executive Services Division within the Department’s Portfolio Affairs and Communications Branch. The Director of ATIP and Executive Services, supported by one Administrative Assistant, is responsible for ATIP as well as Ministerial Correspondence and Secretariat Services. The ATIP Office consists of 12 full-time positions with two streams of ATIP-related work: (1) the ATIP Operations Unit consisting of one ATIP Manager, two Team Leaders, five Analysts, one Junior Analyst, and one Administrative Officer; and, (2) the PPTU consisting of one Team Leader and one Policy Analyst.

The ATIP Office is responsible for the coordination and implementation of policies, guidelines and procedures to ensure departmental compliance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The team is also responsible for responding to requests made under the Acts, as well as providing the following services to the Department:

• Processing consultations received from other institutions;
• Providing advice and guidance to employees and senior officials on ATIP related matters;
• Producing the Annual Reports to Parliament;
• Delivering ATIP awareness sessions to departmental employees;
• Coordinating regular updates to Info Source manuals;
• Reviewing departmental documents, such as audits and evaluations, prior to proactively disclosing these on the departmental website;
• Developing departmental procedures for processing ATIP requests;
• Maintaining the Department’s ATIP reading room; and
• Participating in forums for the ATIP community, such as the Treasury Board Secretariat’s ATIP Community meetings and working groups.

Delegation of Authority

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office operated under two delegation orders (Appendix A). The previous order was signed by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on July 15, 2014. The new Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness signed the current delegation order on January 8, 2016, delegating his powers and responsibilities under the Access to Information Act.

New or Revised Policies, Guidelines or Procedures

The ATIP Office updated the Statement of Completeness form that branch officials submit to ATIP Analysts with records retrieved in response to a request. This form has resulted in improved descriptions of the sensitivity of records, which assists the delegated authority in making decisions about the disclosure of the information.

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness approved protocols for interactions between the Minister’s Office and the ATIP Office, which include an administrative arrangement that applies when it is necessary to retrieve records from the Minister’s Office that are subject to the Act, and, instructions that Minister’s Office’s exempt staff are to limit their contact about Access to Information requests to designated officials. These administrative measures formalize good ATIP practices between the Minister’s Office and the ATIP Office.

Training

During 2015-2016, the ATIP Office provided eight training and/or information sessions on the Guidelines for Retrieving and Reviewing Records in Response to an Access to Information (ATI) Request, Privacy Impact Assessments, and the new Statement of Completeness document. 103 people were trained at these sessions.

Monitoring Performance

Five reports are prepared for the information of Senior Management: The Weekly ATIP Report; the Quarterly Branch Performance Report; the Completed Request Report; the Upcoming ATI Release Report; and the New Request Report.

The Weekly ATIP Report identifies the new formal ATI requests received by the department that week and the deadlines assigned for retrieval/recommendations from branches. It also provides news on issues of interest such as new policies, receipt and resolution of complaints, etc. The Weekly ATIP Report is presented at the weekly Executive Committee Meeting.

The Quarterly Branch Performance Report provides Branches with their on-time response to ATI taskings, and is included as news in the Weekly ATIP Report. Quarterly Branch Performance Reports are rolled-up at the end of the year to provide an overall average of each Branch’s on-time response.

The Completed Request Report provides a list of all closed files for a two week period. The Upcoming ATI Release Report provides a list of ATI requests that will be completed in the upcoming week. The New Request Report provides a list of new requests received during the reporting week. These reports are made available for the information of the Minister’s Office and the Communications Directorate via a secure departmental portal.

In its commitment to transparency and accountability, Public Safety Canada posts summaries of completed ATI requests on the Open Government website. In addition, ATIP performance is monitored at the Executive level through their Performance Management Agreements to ensure ATIP is a priority within the department.

Challenges/Complexities

The complexity of the requests received remains a challenge. There are significant consultations and cross-referencing that must take place to properly review responsive records due to Public Safety Canada’s policy coordination role. Additionally, public domain searches must be conducted to ensure that the information is not already publicly available.

Towards the end of the reporting period, the ATIP Office noticed an increase in overly broad requests. Searching for and retrieving the large volume of records that respond to these requests has had a significant impact on the operations of the organization as a whole. It is anticipated the review of these records will take several years, and will remain a significant challenge to the operations of the ATIP Office for that time, given the complexity and volume of the records.

Key Issues Raised as a Result of Complaints/Investigations

Public Safety Canada received notice of 25 new complaints to the Office of the Information Commissioner in 2015-2016. There were ten complaints related to exemptions, seven related to denial of access, three related to time extensions, three related to excluded information, one related to fees, and one miscellaneous complaint related to transferring the request to another institution pursuant to s. 8 of Act.

Public Safety Canada received 17 complaint findings this year. Of these, four were discontinued, six were well founded and resolved without recommendations, and seven were not well founded.

There have been no patterns or trends identified by Public Safety Canada as a result of complaints or investigations by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Appeals to the Court

There was one appeal to the Federal Court that was included in the 2008-2009 Annual Report to Parliament. The matter is ongoing.

Chapter II – Access to Information Act Statistical Report

Summary

In 2015-2016, Public Safety Canada received 346 requests under the Access to Information Act, an increase of approximately 12 per cent over the previous year. Public Safety Canada completed 100 per cent of the requests on time, the tenth consecutive year of over 90 per cent on time completion. The average number of days to process a request was 54 days, with 60 per cent of all requests completed within 30 days.

Overall Workload Trends

Annex B provides a summarized statistical report on Access to Information Act requests processed by Public Safety Canada between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. The following section provides an overview and interpretation of this information.

The overall workload for ATIP has rebounded from last year’s decreased numbers. The figures below include formal Access and Privacy requests, and consultations received from other institutions.

The following table provides an overall breakdown of workload by category for the past five years.

Requests Received under the Access to Information Act

Public Safety Canada received 346 new Access to Information Act requests through the 2015-2016 fiscal year, representing an increase of approximately 12 per cent over the number of requests received the previous year (310). There were 51 requests carried forward from the previous fiscal year, resulting in a total of 397 requests to process during 2015-2016. Of these requests, 356 were completed during the reporting year, while the remaining 41 requests were carried forward to the next reporting year.

Source of Requests

The media was the primary source of requests received by Public Safety Canada for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Of the 346 requests received, the media comprised 64 per cent (222). Members of the public accounted for 20 per cent of requests (70); seven per cent were received from academia (24); and, four per cent were received from organizations (14). Two per cent of requests were submitted from businesses and another two per cent from those who declined to identify.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act allows institutions to extend the legal deadline for processing a request if a search for responsive records cannot be completed within 30 days of receipt of the request, or if the institution must consult with other institutions or third parties.

Public Safety Canada plays a role in coordinating activities involving federal institutions within the Public Safety portfolio as well as with other organizations at all levels of government on matters relating to the safety of Canadians. Extensions are therefore often necessary in order to undertake the required consultations. Extensions taken for these types of consultations resulted in 13 files being extended for 30 days or less, 32 extended for 31-60 days, 58 extended for 61-120 days, nine extended for 121-180 days, ten extended for 181-365 days, and one extended for 365 days or more.

Extensions taken because of interference with operations resulted in 26 files being extended for 30 days or less, five extended for 31 to 60 days, nine extended for 61 to 120 days, three extended for 121 to 180 days, and two extended for 181 to 365 days.

Information on completion times

This fiscal year, 60 per cent of requests under the Access to Information Act were completed within 30 days which is comparable to last fiscal year’s 63 per cent. The average number of days taken to process a request was 54 days which is comparable to last fiscal year’s 55 days.

Consultations completed

Public Safety Canada received 271 new consultation requests under the Access to Information Act throughout the 2015-2016 fiscal year. There were nine requests carried forward from the previous fiscal year, resulting in a total of 280 requests to process during 2015-2016. Of these requests, 266 were completed during the reporting year, while the remaining 14 requests were carried forward to the next reporting year.

Appendix A – Delegation of Authority for the Access to Information Act

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act*, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out below, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister as the head of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position.  This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Appendix B – Statistical Report for 2015-2016 on the Access to Information Act

Reporting period: 2015-04-01 to 2016-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3: Extensions

Part 4: Fees

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Part 8: Court Action

Part 9: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Date modified:

2018-01-31