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Report 9 - Access to Information Review Task Force
THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT AND RECORD-KEEPING IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
5. Results
The records were analysed using the five record-keeping criteria established for the investigation. (See Appendix 2 for elaborate comments.)
5.1 Quantity
In general the quantity of records was stable before and after the Access to Information Act. For example, aircraft registration files varied due to circumstances documented by the records as opposed to any response to access legislation. For Treasury Board and other central agencies, disposition authorities of the 1990s ensured a smaller volume of archival record. This however, did not affect the scope and content of the records as the documents received were more substantial. In this case, quality made up for quantity.
5.2 Scope
In almost all cases the scope remained the same. The same issues and information were included over time within a series. The issues dealt with in records after 1983 remained as significant and complex as they were prior to the legislation. In some cases, specific topics changed over time but the common subjects remained the same (e.g., Minutes of Canadian Environmental Advisory Council included the Beaufort Sea Project and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, but all of the specific topics addressed fell under the category of environmental issues). As for the broader scope of central agency records over time and the Treasury Board Secretariat in particular, it appears that this was in response to improved records management practices rather than as a direct response to the Access to Information Act.
5.3 Content/Narrative
The content/narrative remained unchanged after the introduction of the Access to Information Act for all but the central agencies' records. All elements of records were captured from beginning to end in a comprehensible fashion and consistently for all Government areas we examined. Moreover, central agency records improved in the quality of their content and narrative over time. As was mentioned previously, as the quantity of central agency records decreased, the quality increased.
5.4 Sense of Corporate Control
For all but the central agencies, there were no changes in corporate control. While there were corporate control issues (for example, Public Works has a fragmented filing system where headquarters, regional and district offices often contain different records on the same topic or function), there were no changes in these issues over time. For central agencies there has been a trend towards greater control of all record-keeping over the period following implementation of the ATIA.
5.5 Other Comments
Only a few examinations into departmental records elicited other comments concerning ATIA and record-keeping. In two cases, documentation showed that the Government body was concerned and aware that they were subject to the Act. An inquiry from council members of the Canadian Environmental Advisory Council as to whether CEAC falls under ATIP legislation, as well as a response from the department confirming it does, was discovered in administration files. The second case was Health Canada, discussed in further detail below.
At DFAIT, the fact that foreign service recruits have been trained in the same procedures for decades in the creation of documents pertaining to dispatches, memos, briefing books or other diplomatic notes accounts for conformity in records over time.
It was noted that there is a significant relationship between the mandate of an institution and the content of their records, demonstrated by what is included in the content/narrative. We can only speculate that this outcome usually overrides any intentions that the individual record maker/keeper may have about ATIA.
5.6 Health Canada: Record-Keeping Issues
Two incidents at Health Canada documented problems in record-keeping identified prior to this present study, and for this reason they are of peripheral interest here.
Narcotic Control Case Files (1980)
Narcotic Control Case files from the former Bureau of Dangerous Drugs
of the Department of National Health and Welfare were improperly disposed
of in 1980. While the National Archives authority allowed Health and Welfare
to destroy cannabis files, hard drug files including heroine, cocaine,
and LSD were also being shredded. The department declared that it would
continue to destroy them in violation of the National Archives authority
as the then Minister of Health had publicly stated the files would be
destroyed.
As this event took place prior to the passage of the Access to Information Act, it was not a response to the Act. However, this incident may be considered
one representation of the perception of records disposition present in
the Federal Government at the time Access to Information was being discussed
and implemented. In this case, records were destroyed by the creating
agency when senior management determined they were no longer of importance
regardless of value assigned by the National Archives.
Canadian Blood Committee Records (1989)
The Canadian Blood Committee was formed in 1981 to deal with the policies,
issues and problems concerning blood and blood products in Canada. The
committee was composed of representatives of federal, provincial and territorial
ministers of health. Health and Welfare Canada provided a secretariat
for the Committee from the time of its inception until 1991 when the Committee
was replaced by a private organization, the Canadian Blood Agency.
In 1995, certain records of decision of the Canadian Blood Committee were entered as evidence at the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada (also known as the Krever Inquiry). These records stated that in its meeting on 16 May 1989, the Canadian Blood Committee had unanimously decided to destroy retroactively all audio recordings of proceedings of their executive meetings, along with transcripts of these recordings, to avoid the possibility that these items might be made available through a request under the Access to Information Act.
While the RCMP investigation concluded it was unable to ascertain whether the destruction of these records was done with criminal intent, it appears that in this case the disposition of records was in response to the Access to Information Act.
6. Summary of Findings
At the outset of the investigation, it was expected that we would find differences in record-keeping in the Government with the implementation of the Act in 1983. However, after extensive analysis, this was not found to be the case. Record-keeping in Government agencies did not change after the Act. Some diminution in the quantity of records was the only element of record-keeping which changed after the Act. This could be seen as a negative response to the Access to Information Act. However, in the absence of changes in other areas of criteria, there is no further evidence from this study to back such a conclusion. If there were any significant changes to the records they should be apparent in the category of content/narrative. It is in this category where one would see attempts to avoid recording potentially embarrassing information that might put the Government in a position of liability. Even with the Health Canada examples, it appears that record-keeping was consistent: a casual attitude towards destruction of records remained unaltered despite passage of the legislation.
7. Conclusions
The results of our investigation imply that the Access to Information Act has had no significant impact, which is contrary to the working hypothesis. It is important to emphasize that, while other studies have examined active records and how departments apply ATIA to that documentation, this investigation looks solely at record-keeping. Limitations constrained us, though, as noted above. Because the scope of this study is unique, it should not be surprising that its results also differ from other studies.
That records are created does not necessarily mean that they will be available through the application of access legislation. Many departments use exemptions in the Act to prevent access to documentation. (It should be noted that departments want to keep complete records for their own operational and administrative purposes.) An institution may still create excellent records, knowing that this documentation will be exempt under the Access to Information Act.
This study approaches the issues of the Access to Information Act from a new and unique perspectiveBrecord-keeping. The report is noteworthy in its subject matter and approach. Any further study would require significant time and resources for an elaboration of the question.
The evidence of this investigation was only conclusive within the parameters
of our study. The findings do not mean that changes in behaviour have
not occurred in response to the Access to Information Act. What can be
concluded is that, to date, no evidence has been found that the Access to Information Act has altered approaches to record-keeping in the Government
of Canada.
