Complaint: National Defence told a requester that it had searched for a report but could find no related records. In the same response, the institution also noted that the report in question was still being drafted.

Investigation: The OIC concluded that the response, which was based on recommendations from the Office of the Judge Advocate General, was inappropriate, since a document did exist, as the response itself highlighted. In addition, the fact that the document was in draft form at the time of the request did not exclude it from the Act.

Outcome: The OIC’s investigation and a simultaneous professional misconduct enquiry by the Canadian Armed Forces’ National Investigation Service into the processing of the original request, led to several changes to the structure, staffing, training and oversight of the access to information function at National Defence. The Commissioner recommended that the institution review the access function annually, offer specific training and guidance on the duty to assist and the Act’s offence provisions, raise access to information performance at senior management meetings, and add a requirement to the performance agreements of certain key executives related to complying with the Act, including to provide timely, accurate and complete responses when tasked for records.

Information Commissioner’s position:

• Program officials are required to provide timely, accurate and complete responses to enquiries from the access office. In turn, access officials must be allowed to challenge program areas when responding to requests.
• Including compliance requirements in executive performance agreements is an effective way to ensure institutions meet their obligations under the Act.