Governing through transparency: Investigating the new access to information regime in Canada

Abstract

This paper examines the state of Canada’s federal access to information (ATI) regime. Drawing from literature on government transparency, we conceptualize Bill C-58 and the problems it proposes to address as a form of policy discordance. We assess the recent digitization of ATI in Canada by analyzing data on request abandonment, record exemptions, as well as variation by ministry. In so doing, we identify tensions between strategic narratives of “open, honest, government” and recent changes brought about through legislative amendments. We conclude by problematizing notions of proactive disclosure, open government, and transparency as currently promoted in the Canadian federal context.

Keywords:

• Access to information
• digitization
• open government
• strategic narratives
• transparency

Notes

1 Here we use the term ATI as it reflects the formal legal regime we analyze (the federal Access to Information Act). Other monikers for ATI systems include freedom of information law (a term that corresponds more to the names of provincial access laws in Canada) and public records law (common at the state level in the United States).

2 A replication repository for this article can found at https://github.com/alexlusco/newtransparency.

3 While a full statistical analysis of the application of extensions and the average length of extensions is beyond the scope of this paper, it merits future research.

4 We filed requests with 6 of the agencies in our top 25 sample, obtaining a list of all abandoned requests over a 3-year period (2009–2019). We randomly sampled 50 abandoned request numbers and filed for all written communications between the requester and ATIP analyst overseeing the file.

5 Given that much ATI brokering occurs over phone, not just email, this is a limited data source.