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Consultations of the Task Force with other Jurisdictions on their Access to Information Regimes
Alberta
Access to Information Regime
Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act was enacted on October 1, 1995 for provincial government ministries and was extended to school boards and health care bodies in 1998. In 1999 the Act was extended to public post-secondary educational institutions and to local governments. The Act now applies to some 1500 public bodies. The list of the provincial Agencies, Boards and Commissions covered by the Act is contained in the FOIP Regulations and is generally updated every year. The coverage of the Act is extensive, based on criteria of whether there are public appointments to the boards or whether an agency is publicly funded, in whole or in part. Two local government bodies have been excluded on the basis of competitiveness – EPCOR and Enmax (both companies are energy-providing utilities). A committee of the Legislative Assembly recently reviewed the Act and made recommendations, most of which were adopted by the government in 1999. There is a legislative review every three years, with the next one scheduled for 2002.
Under the Act the only fee for access to personal information is for reproduction fees over $10. There is a $25.00 initial fee for a “general” information request, with additional fees that may be may be charged for processing costs in excess of $150.
The Act requires disclosure of information under an access request, normally within 30 days, with exemptions to disclosure that generally mirror those in other provinces. In fiscal year 2000/2001, government ministries received 2,152 FOIP requests, with about 58 percent related to personal information and 42 percent related to requests for general information.
The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner oversees the Act and can conduct inquiries where public bodies refuse to disclose information. The Commissioner's decision as a result of an inquiry is final, but is subject to judicial review.
There are two general offences under the FOIP Act – destroying, altering, falsifying, or concealing documents, and obstructing the Commissioner. There have never been any investigations under these provisions.
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With legislated reviews every three years, Alberta is in “review mode” on an ongoing basis. As a consequence it has been recommended that the Act be amended so that reviews are conducted every five years. Government officials believe the Act is working reasonably well now with more proactive disclosure of information taking place. A tracking system is used to compile data on FOIP compliance for Provincial government ministries, such as the percentage of requests completed within the legislated 30-day timeframe. This data is published in an annual report which is tabled in the Legislature.
Some officials view records management inside government as ‘a disaster’ with uneven records management expertise within ministries; however steps are now being taken to rectify this problem.
Some Deputy Ministers are concerned that access is an impediment to frank
discussions and advice. In the opinion of the Commissioner, however, the
apprehension of harm by senior management from disclosure of information
is usually much greater than the actual harm. There is strong support
of FOI by Premier Ralph Klein, a former reporter who introduced the Act
and who serves as a model for routine disclosure in government by regularly
releasing his expense accounts. It was noted that while public servants
may not be creating as many written records as in the past, the quality
of the notes has improved.
It is the general view that the most important factor for success is having
access professionals in departments with good access to the decision makers
and good on-going training. The FOIP training program has been very successful
- FOIP officers and public servants are scheduled for a refresher course
every 3 years. Being a FOIP co-ordinator should be a good career move
because it is a job that implies a broad knowledge of a department and
indicates an ability to handle pressure. However, at this point FOIP professionals
for the most part do not have a good career path, are often disliked within
departments, and do not receive enough training. The government is working
on this last issue through monthly meetings of FOIP co-ordinators, other
training as well as issues management sessions. The University of Alberta,
in partnership with the Commissioner and Alberta Government Services,
has developed a comprehensive curriculum for ATI professionals leading
to a certificate. This is a positive development.
Training in the past was mostly targeted towards FOIP staff but is now also directed at program managers. Training sessions have been held for Ministers’ Offices in records management and FOIP. A web site is used as a major focus of the government’s awareness and educational efforts, through such things as providing answers to frequently asked questions. Some government officials would like to see as well a strengthening of the role of the Information Management, Access and Privacy Division of Alberta Government Services, the agency responsible for implementing FOIP.
Alberta has completed an administrative review of its FOIP program which looked at such issues as centralizing the access response functions, using memoranda of understandings (MOUs) between departments to provide the FOIP function (already in use in some areas) and mandatory training for all managers from the Deputy Minister on down. The province has embarked on its second formal review of the Act under a special all-party committee of the Legislative Assembly. The committee must report within a year on any recommended amendments.
The government officials and the Information Commissioner believe that fees set under the Act (a $25.00 request fee) are generally reasonable, especially since the additional search and copying fees are waived if they are under $150.00. Fee complaints generally go in favour of the government but there is constant pressure from within to increase fees. Electronic requests are not yet permitted. The media do not use the Act much and there is more public awareness on privacy than on access to information.
The former Information Commissioner1 believes in mediation and a persuasion approach. He was able to achieve compromises, sometimes through a more casual route and believes that if his relationship with government had become too adversarial, it would have been doomed. Nurturing of an ongoing relationship of collaboration is important. In general, the Alberta government will go out of its way not to enter into a conflict with the Information Commissioner.
Leadership is important. The Commissioner wanted to see standards for access to information inserted into Deputies’ employment contracts.
Investigations on complaints are conducted by portfolio officers recruited for their ability to negotiate and solve problems. About 90% of all complaints are resolved at that level. About 1 percent of complaints go to inquiry and normally the Commissioner or his designate issue about 20 orders per year, including privacy matters. Inquiries may be conducted orally or in written form.
The Office of the Information Commissioner has had to deal with cases of repetitive and abusive requests.
The subpoena power has been used less than 5 times in 5 years, always for the production of documents. Witnesses are entitled to counsel of their choice. The Commissioner’s orders are published for education and guidance purposes but do not set precedents.
In the view of the various Alberta officials, it is critical that the Information Commissioner have decision-making authority, in order to be effective.
