In recognition of International Right to Know Day on 28 September, the Privacy and Access Council of Canada has joined Transparency International, together with Access Info Europe, Article19, and the Centre for Law and Democracy, in urging governments to ensure that the COVID-19 pandemic is not used as a pretext for limiting the right to information.
The coronavirus crisis has shown clearly that access to information is essential for maintaining the trust needed for a successful response to the pandemic, for identifying and preventing corporate and government collusion and corruption in the response to the crisis, for holding government to account for their actions, and for enabling citizens to continue to participate in democratic processes.
In Canada, governments at all levels have exploited the COVID crisis to undermine that process. At the federal level, 76 institutions decreed “Access To Information processing is NOT a critical service,” as 80 departments and agencies reduced processing of Access To Information requests and four stopped work altogether. Similarly, various provincial,territorial, and municipal governments have limited the processing of access requests, and authorized the disclosure of personal and health information —inside or outside Canada — without notice or consent to affected individuals.
More than six months after the declaration of the pandemic, while many governments have found ways to return to normal operations despite challenges created by the pandemic, freedom of information requests continue to be delayed or refused. According to the Global Right to Information Rating, the strength of Canada’s access to information laws ranks 57th in the world — well below Afghanistan (1st), Russia (43rd), and Bulgaria (56th).
We are calling on governments to do more than merely restore information to pre‑pandemic levels or conflate access with ‘open government’, and to modernize the laws to provide Canadians with a genuine and effective right of access to information held by public bodies and governments at all levels. . Updating access laws to reflect governments’ growing reliance on corporate and technological solutions, and formally recognizing access to information as an essential service, is vital to regain voter trust, support democracy, and protect against censoring of information by public officials including torecords that were already public.
The joint statement is online here: https://www.transparency.org/en/press/the-right-to-know-is-crucial-in-a-crisis
The Privacy and Access Council of Canada
The voice for privacy and access
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PACC is the voice for privacy and access.
PACC is Independent • Non-profit • Non-partisan • Non-government
PACC is dedicated to the development and promotion of the access-to-information, information privacy, and data governance profession across the private, non-profit and public sectors.
PACC is the certifying body for access and privacy professionals, and engages in outreach efforts to advance awareness about access, privacy, and data protection.