Access to Information Act - Annual Report to Parliament 2018-2019

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Administration of the Act
  • Departmental Mandate
  • Departmental Structure
  • Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP)
  • Delegation of Authority
  • Departmental Policies, Procedures and Business Processes
  • Training and Awareness
• Trends and Statistics
  • Highlights, Challenges and Trends
  • Requests Received Pursuant to the Access to Information Act
    • A. Formal Requests
    • B. Informal Requests
  • Disposition and Completion Time of Requests
  • Extensions of Time Limits
  • Exemptions and Exclusions Invoked
  • Other Government Department Consultations
  • Complaints, Audits and Investigations
  • Fees Collected
  • Operational Costs Associated with Administering the Act
• Annex A: Statistical Report
• Annex B: Delegation Order

Introduction

Administration of the Act

Departmental Mandate

Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) was established in 1987 to promote the development and diversification of the economy of Western Canada and to advance the interests of the West in national economic policy, program and project development and implementation. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development is responsible for this organization.

The Department operates under the provision of the Western Economic Diversification Act, which came into force on June 28, 1988. WD’s mandate allows the department to deliver a wide range of initiatives across the West and make strategic investments to build on regional competitive advantages. Its western base enables the department to foster strong partnerships with business and community organizations, research and academic institutions, Indigenous peoples, and provincial and municipal governments. These connections help WD reflect western perspectives in national decision-making.

Departmental Structure

WD employs 353 individuals across Western Canada and in Ottawa, including economists, commerce officers and policy analysts. Specialists in such areas as communications, corporate administration, financial management, human resources, information management and information technology, and procurement provide the policy and programs analysts with support.

WD is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, and organized into four regional units (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), with offices located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and an office in Ottawa.

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP)

The Human Resources and Corporate Services unit (HRCS) is responsible for a broad range of services, including Access to Information and Privacy, administered by the unit’s ATIP Centre of Expertise. HRCS is part of the Finance and Corporate Management Directorate located in Edmonton, Alberta.

The ATIP Coordinator, who is supported by the Deputy ATIP Coordinator and a Corporate Services Advisor, oversees WD’s ATIP Centre of Expertise. The Coordinators fulfill their responsibilities in addition to numerous other functions within the department. The Corporate Services Advisor processes all access and privacy requests. Approximately 1.1 FTEs were dedicated to access to information activities in 2018-2019.

The ATIP Centre of Expertise is responsible for the implementation and management of the Access to Information and Privacy programs and services for WD. Specifically, the ATIP Centre of Expertise:

• makes decisions on the disposition of access and privacy requests, and responds to all requests submitted under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act;
• conducts consultations with other federal government departments, other levels of government and third parties with respect to access to information and privacy issues, if required;
• promotes awareness of the legislation to ensure departmental responsiveness to statutory obligations;
• monitors and advises on departmental compliance with the Acts, regulations, procedures and policies; and
• acts on behalf of the Department when dealing with the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Information Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, and other government departments and agencies.

Other access to information-related activities undertaken by the ATIP Centre of Expertise in 2018-2019, include:

*questions/reviews/emails/reports etc.

The ATIP Centre of Expertise monitors the processing of all access requests. The ATIP Coordinator and the department’s Executive Committee, ATIP Liaison Officers and Communications officials receive reports pertaining to the status of all active formal access requests.

In addition, procedures are in place with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Information and Privacy Rights Administration unit to advise the Minister weekly on the status of all active formal and informal access requests, as well as the disclosure of potentially sensitive requests for information if appropriate.

Delegation of Authority

The current delegation order was issued June 2016 in accordance with section 73 of the Access to Information Act. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development delegated full powers, authorities and responsibilities to the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Management (ATIP Coordinator) and Manager, Corporate Administration (Deputy ATIP Coordinator). The delegation also extends limited authority to the ATIP Officer (Annex B).

The ATIP Centre of Expertise is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of policies, guidelines, systems and procedures to manage the department’s compliance with the Acts. Compliance is also facilitated by an ATIP Liaison Officer, in each regional office and corporate business unit, who report to an Assistant Deputy Minister, Executive Director, or Director, to liaise with the ATIP Centre of Expertise concerning enquiries.

Each of these offices is responsible for searching and retrieving records responsive to access requests received under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. The ATIP Centre of Expertise, however, is legally responsible for implementing and managing the ATIP program and services for WD, including all decisions on the disclosure or non-disclosure of information pursuant to the legislation.

Departmental Policies, Procedures and Business Processes

To improve the administration of the ATIP program within the department, and to ensure that Treasury Board Secretariat ATIP-related policies and directives are respected and implemented, the ATIP Centre of Expertise regularly reviews and updates its various internal guidelines, procedures and business practices. Updates reflect new advice and guidance from TBS or as a result of issues raised by the Office of the Information Commissioner or other agents of Parliament. The department publishes summaries of its closed access to information requests on the Open Information Portal.

Training and Awareness

WD’s ATIP Centre of Expertise provided ATIP training in WD’s BC Regional office to 12 participants in August 2018. As well, ATIP training was provided to the Saskatchewan Regional office and the DMO in the same month.

Trends and Statistics

Highlights, Challenges and Trends

The following chart outlines the trends related to Western Economic Diversification Canada’s access to information caseload over the past 5 years.

• Eighty percent of the consultations received were from three government departments. The Privy Council Office accounted for twenty percent, the Treasury Board Secretariat accounted for twenty-two percent and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada accounted for the largest portion at thirty-eight percent.
• Six consultations received from the Privy Council Office were to review records from the 1970s where no access to information requests were made. The records consulted were for PCO archival reviews.
• The topics of the requests and consultations varied but there continues to be significant interest in information related to the Port of Churchill and passenger bus service in western Canada.

The following overview provides an interpretation and analysis of the statistical details found in the department’s 2018-2019 statistical report (Annex A: Statistical Report).

Requests Received Pursuant to the Access to Information Act

A. Formal Requests

The department received fifteen requests for information pursuant to the Access to Information Act during the reporting period. This represents a sixty-six percent increase from fiscal year 2017-2018. There were no requests carried forward from 2017-2018.

Ten requests were completed during the reporting period. Of these, one request was abandoned.

While the number of requests increased from the previous reporting period, the volume of records decreased in terms of pages processed and disclosed. The complexity, sensitivities, and research required, continues to increase.

The accompanying chart shows the comparison of the number of formal requests received by the department over the past five years.

The categories of requestors for 2018-2019 are broken down as follows:

• Eight (53.3 percent) from the media
• Three (20 percent) from business
• Three (20 percent) from organizations
• One (6.7 percent) from the public

The accompanying chart shows a 5-year comparison of sources of access requests to WD.

The accompanying chart represents the overall percentage of requestors by category.

B. Informal Requests

As a result of summaries of closed access requests, which are published on the Open Government portal, WD processed seven requests for copies of previously disclosed information. This represents a decrease of seventy-three percent from 2017-18.

No application fees or response timelines apply to these informal requests; however, WD responded to all requests (100%) in less than thirty days.

The accompanying chart reflects a five-year comparison in the number of informal request received.

Disposition and Completion Time of Requests

30% of requests completed by WD were done so in thirty days or less, including one, which was abandoned. Due to extensive consultations with third parties and other government departments on the remaining 70% of the requests, completion times extended beyond the original 30-day timeline.

The disposition and completion times of the requests completed in 2018-2019 are broken down as follows:

Extensions of Time Limits

Section 9 of the Act provides for the extension of the statutory time limits if the request is for a large volume of records or necessitates a search through a large volume of records and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the department or, if consultations are necessary.

In 2018-2019, WD required:

• four (4) extensions due to the volume of records requested, and
• four (4) extensions to complete necessary consultations with other government departments or third parties.

Due to the nature of the records requested, consultations were required. In total, ten consultations were required. Five were undertaken with third parties. Three were undertaken with other government departments. One consultation was undertaken with another government and another with a municipality. The maximum extension taken for third party consultations was 60 days.

Exemptions and Exclusions Invoked

WD invoked exemptions in accordance with sections 13 through 22 of the Act as outlined in Annex A. Several exempting provisions can be applied to withhold information in response to one request; these are reported separately in the statistical report. However, the same exemption invoked more than once in the same request is captured only once in the statistical report.

While the statistics make evident that the department invoked a broad range of exemptions during this reporting period, subsection 20(1) pertaining to third party information was the most utilized exemption, having been applied to eleven requests. This reflects the nature of the information held by the department related to the recipients of its funding programs. Also utilized in a large percentage of the requests were subsection 19(1) which was applied to four requests and subsection 21(1) which was applied to seven requests.

The Act does not apply to certain materials such as published material or material available for purchase by the public pursuant to Section 68 or confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council pursuant to Section 69. WD invoked section 68 for two requests during the period of this report.

Other Government Department Consultations

In 2018-2019, WD 45 consultations from other federal departments. This represents a forty percent decrease from 2017-18. One consultation was carried over from the previous fiscal year. In total, 41 consultation requests were completed during the reporting period, and five were carried forward to 2019-20.

• WD recommended full disclosure of information pertaining to our department on twenty-nine (71%) of the consultation requests.
• WD recommended partial disclosure of information pertaining to our department on ten (24%) of the consultation requests.
• WD recommended all records pertaining to our department be exempted on two (5%) of the consultation requests.
• In total, WD reviewed 804 pages. This represents a 1% increase over 2017-2018.
• WD responded to 34 of the consultation requests (83%) within 15 days or less.

The accompanying chart shows the comparison of number of consultation requests received by WD over the past five years.

Complaints, Audits and Investigations

WD carried forward one complaint from 2017-18.

The complaint carried forward from 2017-18 is ongoing and follows up on an earlier complaint that was closed. The complainant is challenging the validity of exemptions, applied to additional third party records, which were provided to satisfy the original complaint.

There were no audits undertaken or concluded during the reporting period. Further, there were no appeals or applications submitted to the Federal Court.

Fees Collected

WD collected $50 in Access to Information application fees during this reporting period.

Operational Costs Associatied with Administering the Act

WD’s costs for administrating the Access to Information Act in the ATIP Centre of Expertise include a portion of the ATIP Coordinator’s and Deputy ATIP Coordinator’s salaries, and 100% of the Corporate Service Advisor’s salary (a total of 1.10 FTEs/year). Other costs pertaining to goods and services, including the costs of an ATIP case management system licensing and maintenance, have been included in the total cost reported of $99,051.

Annex A: Statistical Report

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Western Economic Diversification Canada

Reporting Period: 2018-04-01 to 2019-03-31

Part 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Informal requests

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 Disposition and completion time

2.2 Exemptions

2.3 Exclusions

2.4 Format of information released

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

2.5.3 Other complexities

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting the statutory deadline

2.6.2 Number of days past deadline

2.7 Requests for translation

Part 3: Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

3.2 Length of extensions

Part 4: Fees

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

6.1 Requests with Legal Services

6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Part 8: Court Action

Part 9: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

9.1 Costs

9.2 Human Resources

Annex B: Delegation Order