June 9, 2005

The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing on behalf of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect press freedom and freedom of expression around the world.

CJFE is shocked by the dismal record of government officials in responding to access to information requests as found by the Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA) in a recent study. While the public's right to access information concerning their government has been enshrined in law in both Provincial and Federal law, in much of Canada this right seems to exist only on paper.

As part of the study, journalists from 45 newspapers acting as private citizens tested the efficacy of access to information legislation by making requests to city halls, police forces, school boards, and federal government offices. In general, they found officials unwilling to divulge information even on simple matters such as class sizes and road repairs. In-person requests by reporters garnered results less that one in three times and even after paying fees for formal access requests, only 62% of requests were met with full or partial information.

The study also found that officials in the Federal government actively sought to hide embarrassing information by sending sensitive requests through political staffers and by labeling emails "read and destroy" to prevent future scrutiny. In addition to these obstacles, a vast majority of Crown agencies and corporations, including Canada Post, Canadian Blood Services and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, are exempted from the obligations of the Access to Information Act.

CJFE calls on the Canadian government to take action and ensure that journalists and all Canadians have the rights promised to them by the Access to Information Act. Citizens have a right to know the actions of their government without extreme personal cost and undue procedural hurdles that shield incompetence and corruption.

I look forward to receiving your prompt reply.

Yours truly,

Rod Macdonell
Executive Director

CC: John Reid, The Information Commissioner of Canada
Place de Ville, Tower B
112 Kent Street, 22nd Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3

Case File Number: PL05-06