Access to information in Alberta nearing 'crisis situation,' FOIP commissioner says

Access to information in Alberta is fast approaching a "crisis situation," warns information and privacy commissioner Jill Clayton in her annual report released Tuesday.

"I do not believe I should have to order public bodies to comply with a clear obligation under the law," she said in the report.

Clayton is critical of how the government is handling Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) requests citing delays, time extensions, and applicants receiving no response at all.

The extent of the problem or the reasons behind it are difficult to determine since Service Alberta has not posted statistics on the operations of the FOIP Act since 2012-2013, Clayton wrote.

"What I do know is that Albertans are not receiving timely responses, or any response in some cases, to their requests for access to information," said Clayton, who was recently given another five-year contract.

Her office launched its own investigation in 2014 to review how the government responds to requests for information.

In her report, Clayton said the investigation stalled when the government provided only heavily-redacted documents.

"I am calling on this government, and public bodies in all sectors, to reverse the course we are on and to demonstrate to Albertans respect for the values of transparency, accountability, and the law," she wrote.

Delays in responses rising sharply 

Public bodies that want more time to respond to a FOIP request have to apply for a time extension from the Information and Privacy Office.

The report stated there has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of time extension requests received, 101 requests in 2015-16, up from over 63 in 2014-15.

The vast majority of the extension requests were made by provincial government ministries.

The sharp rise in requests raises questions about whether public bodies have the necessary resources to meet their duty to make every reasonable effort to respond to access requests within 30 days, the report said.

Some government ministries have indicated staff shortages as part of the reason for not responding within the required time. 

"Under the FOIP Act, these are not sufficient reasons to not respond to applicants," the commissioner said.