ETHI Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent de l'accès à l'information, de la protection des renseignements personnels et de l'éthique |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
TABLING OF THE REPORT ON THE REFORM OF THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT
Ottawa, June 18, 2009 -
Ottawa, Thursday, June 18, 2009 – The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics released its 11th report today. This report examines the Committee’s response to the twelve recommendations made by the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding reform of the Access to Information Act. This matter was referred to the Standing Committee in February 2009 following the publication of a special report by the Commissioner pertaining to the systemic issues affecting access to information. The Commissioner made a submission to the Committee at that time containing the twelve recommendations to modernize the Act.
“The Access to Information Act is an important, quasi-constitutional piece of legislation that gives Canadians the right to access government information. Adopted in 1983, this Act should be modernized to keep pace with new technologies and to bring it into line with the more progressive acts already in place in a number of Canadian provinces. The Committee hopes that this report will encourage the Minister of Justice to consider amending the Act in the near future,” stated the Chair of the Standing Committee, Paul Szabo (Liberal Party of Canada, Member for Mississauga South).
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