Interim Information Commissioner's commitment to improve investigation
function brings results: annual report

OTTAWA, June 3 /CNW Telbec/ - The Interim Information Commissioner of Canada, Suzanne Legault tabled her annual report in Parliament today. Her commitment to maximize the effectiveness and timeliness of investigations into complaints is paying off. The Office of Information Commissioner (OIC) investigates how federal institutions handle requests under the Access to Information Act.

According to her 2009-2010 annual report, the OIC closed more complaints (2,215) from Canadians in 2009-2010 than in any year in the past two decades. These complaints include more than 700 dating from before April 1, 2008. In addition to closing a large number of files, the OIC reduced by nearly one third the average time it took to conclude investigations into complaints it received in the last two years. This results in a faster and more efficient service to Canadians.

"From the outset of my term on June 30, 2009, I made a clear commitment to significantly improve our investigative function to fully meet the current needs and expectations of Canadians" said Ms. Legault. "This report shows that we achieved our goals and are continuing to build our organization and processes for future success."

A key contributing factor was a concerted effort to recruit and train investigators, which brought the staff complement up to full capacity. As the annual report notes, the Interim Commissioner used the full range of her powers under the Act to maximize institutional compliance. This included referring, for the first time, a matter of serious wrongdoing to the Attorney General of Canada for review and possible prosecution.

Today's report also summarizes noteworthy investigations and important legal cases that have raised issues of significance for the interpretation of the Access to Information Act or freedom of information in general.

The report, Annual report 2009-2010: Achieving results. Building for success is available on the OIC website (http://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/).

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