2008-2009 Because Canadians care

At year-end, we were in the final stages of completing our investigation into complaints filed as a result of the Treasury Board Secretariat’s decision to no longer require institutions to update the Coordinated Access to Information Request System (CAIRS). The investigation will determine whether the public’s right to know has been adversely affected by this decision.

The discontinuance of CAIRS elicited considerable negative response. The decision was cited in the media as another example of the government’s lack of commitment to openness and transparency. Regular users of the system demanded that the system be restored. In its Sixth Report to Parliament, presented to the House on May 7, 2008, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics deplored the discontinuance of CAIRS, and demanded that it be reinstated and made widely accessible free of charge, as a tool to promote transparency and accountability.

We will issue the findings of our investigation in 2009-2010.