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 saidin the report.

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

The extent of the problemor the reasons behind itare difficult to determine since Service Alberta has not posted statistics on the operations of the FOIP Act since2012-2013, Clayton wrote.

"What I do know is that Albertans are not receiving timely responses, or any responsein some cases,to their requests for access to information," saidClayton, 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 saidtheinvestigation stalled when the government providedonly 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 statedthere 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 majorityof the extension requests were made by provincial government ministries.

The sharp rise in requestsraises 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.