Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2020-2021

Introduction

The purpose of the Access to Information Act (Act) is to provide Canadian citizens and residents with a right of access to information under the control of government institutions.

This Annual Report was prepared in accordance with section 94 of the Act, which stipulates that annual reports on access to information shall be tabled in Parliament.

Additionally, in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act, the report includes information with respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act.

About the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (CRCC) operates pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10. The CRCC provides civilian review of RCMP members' conduct in performing their policing duties so as to hold the RCMP accountable to the public.

One of the CRCC's main roles is to take public complaints about members of the RCMP. These complaints are then forwarded to the RCMP for initial investigation as mandated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act; however, if the complainant is dissatisfied with the response that he or she receives from the RCMP, the CRCC will review the complaint with a view to determining the reasonableness of the RCMP's response. In appropriate cases, the CRCC will undertake its own investigation or hearing into a complaint. The Chairperson of the CRCC also has the power to file his or her own complaint if he or she feels that a matter is deserving of investigation.

Additionally, even in the absence of a public complaint, the CRCC is empowered to conduct a review of RCMP activities to evaluate compliance with legislation, regulations, ministerial directions, policy, procedures and/or guidelines.

ATIP Responsibilities

At the CRCC, the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Unit consists solely of the ATIP Coordinator. The ATIP Coordinator processes all requests from the public and consultations from other departments or agencies. The ATIP Coordinator also provides advice to CRCC employees and senior officials on ATIP-related matters, prepares annual ATIP reports, ensures the ongoing accuracy of Info Source, prepares completed Access to Information summaries for proactive disclosure on the CRCC's website, participates in forums for the ATIP community and monitors changes in ATIP policy, guidelines and directives.

When processing requests and consultations under the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, the ATIP Coordinator also benefits from some administrative assistance from personnel in the Information Management Unit of the CRCC. The CRCC Chairperson, under delegated authority from the Minister of Public Safety, provides the final approval for all responses on ATIP requests and consultations.

During the reporting period, the CRCC was not party to any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act.

Proactive disclosure responsibilities are shared by Corporate Services, the Chairperson's Office and the Communications group.

Delegation Order

The Minister of Public Safety has delegated full authority under the Act to the CRCC Chairperson and Senior Director, Operations. The Minister has also delegated administrative duties and functions to the CRCC ATIP Coordinator. The most recent delegation order was signed by the Minister of Public Safety on July 4, 2016 (see Annex A).

Access to Information Requests Received

During the course of the reporting period (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021), forty‑eight (48) new Access to Information requests were received. Three (3) requests were carried over from the previous year. Of those fifty-one (51), forty-five (45) requests were processed during that period and six (6) were carried forward into 2021-2022.

Of those forty-eight (48) requests received during the reporting period, requestors that self-identified as belonging to categories include two (2) from the media, two (2) from academia, three (3) from businesses, as well as twenty-six (26) from the general public, and fifteen (15) declined to self‑identify.

Twelve (12) of the forty-five (45) requests (26.7%) completed during the reporting period resulted in partial disclosures, four (4) requests (8.9%) resulted in full disclosure twenty-two (22) were transferred to other institutions, and no records were found to exist for the other seven (7) requests.

The categories of information that the CRCC disclosed during the reporting period included complaint information to former and current complainants; human resources information; briefing notes prepared for the Chairperson; correspondence and operational files related to Public Interest Investigations; and information about procurements and spending.

The total number of pages processed was 6,872 pages.

Performance

During the reporting period, the CRCC processed 93.3% of requests within legislated timelines.

The forty eight (48) Access to Information requests received by the CRCC in 2020-2021 represent a dramatic increase over the number of requests received in recent years:

2020-21 48
2019-20 38
2018-19 25
2017-18 17
2016-17 11

Despite the increase in requests, the CRCC still responded to over 90% of requests within legislated timelines.

The increase in number of requests received is likely attributable to the ATIP Online Request Service, which has allowed requesters to submit their requests online to the CRCC since late 2018, many of which it turned out were intended for other institutions.

The CRCC claimed exemptions under paragraph 13(1)(c) (Information obtained in confidence from a provincial government), paragraph 16(1)(c) (Information that could be injurious to the enforcement of any law of Canada or lawful investigations), subsection 16(2) (Information that could facilitate the commission of an offence), section 16.5 (Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act), section 17 (Safety of individuals), subsection 19(1) (Personal information), paragraph 21(1)(a) (Advice or recommendations), paragraph 21(1)(b) (Consultations or deliberations), paragraph 21(1)(c) (Positions or plans developed for the purpose of negotiations), paragraph 21(1)(d) (Plans relating to the management of personnel or the administration of a government institution), and section 23 (Solicitor-client privilege) of the Access to Information Act.

As some of the material requested originated with other departments and external consultation was required, extensions were taken in six (6) of the requests completed in the reporting period in order to consult. The CRCC also took three (3) extensions for requests that necessitated a search through a large number of records or where meeting the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with the operations of the CRCC. Two (2) requests were not completed within the statutory deadline due to the need for external consultation and one (1) request was not completed within the statutory deadline due to the need to conduct internal consultations on sensitive information, early in the reporting period, when federal employees began working remotely to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Therefore, forty-two (42) of the forty-five (45) requests processed were responded to within the established timelines.

The CRCC responded within 30 days for all four (4) requests disclosed in full. For requests disclosed in part, the CRCC took 30 days or less to respond to six (6); 61 to 120 days to respond to three (3) requests; 120 to 180 days to respond to one (1) request; and 181 to 365 days to respond to two (2) requests. The CRCC responded within 15 days for the twenty-two (22) requests that were transferred, and within 30 days for the seven (7) requests for which records did not exist. For informal requests, the CRCC responded to ten (10) within 15 days; eight (8) in 16 to 30 days; and one (1) within 61 to 120 days.

Finally, in 2020-2021, the CRCC received seventeen (17) consultations from other Government of Canada institutions and had two (2) outstanding from 2019-2020. The CRCC processed seventeen (17) requests during the reporting period. These consultations mainly related to documents having to do with public complaints against the RCMP, documents showing general employee data such as salary levels, leave information, position classifications and other demographic information, and ministerial briefing materials. They originated from three different government departments. There were no consultations received from other organizations.

See Annex B for the Statistical Report.

On March 14, 2020, the CRCC implemented exceptional workplace measures to curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect federal employees and the public. Since that date, the CRCC Access to Information and Privacy staff has been working from home most of the time, but completes tasks that cannot be performed remotely by attending the CRCC workplace as required. This work is supported by part-time on-site information management staff. However, unlike many federal institutions, these measures have not negatively impacted the CRCC's performance.

Reporting on Access to Information Fees for the Purposes of the Service Fees Act

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by the institution.

With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

• Enabling authority: Access to Information Act
• Fee amount: $5, the only fee charged for an ATI request
• Total revenue: $170
• Fees waived: $70
• Cost of operating the program: $46,296

Training and Awareness

During the reporting period, no CRCC employees participated in formal access to information training. However, guidance on access to information matters was provided on an ad hoc basis (e.g. in person, by email and through the CRCC's electronic newsletter).

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

Due to exceptional workplace measures implemented to curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the ATIP Office developed new secure online procedures for the review and approval process of completed requests.

Monitoring of Timeliness

The CRCC monitors the time to process Access to Information requests through its case management software. The ATIP Coordinator keeps track of upcoming deadlines for requests and consultations. Reminders of approaching deadlines are provided to senior management at least quarterly. The ATIP Coordinator meets regularly with the CRCC Chairperson and General Counsel to discuss various issues pertaining to in-progress ATIP files.

Complaints

During the reporting period, there was one (1) new complaint filed against the CRCC. Four complaints had been carried over from the 2019-2020 reporting period.

Two (2) of those complaints related to the length of extensions taken. The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) concluded that one of the complaints was not well-founded. For the other, the CRCC provided a response to the requestor before the OIC began their investigation. Therefore, the OIC responded with a finding that the complaint was resolved.

Two (2) of these complaints alleged that the CRCC did not perform a proper or complete search for records. One of these complaints was concluded as not well-founded. The other complaint was concluded as well-founded and the CRCC released three more pages to the requestor.

The remaining complaint involved a refusal to release records. This complaint was still under investigation on March 31, 2021.

Finally, there were no audits or other investigations conducted during the reporting period.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints

CRCC ATIP staff is in the process of developing more rigorous procedures for retrieving records from Offices of Primary Interest after examining its practices during complaint investigations during the 2020-2021 reporting period.

Appendix A: Delegation Order

The Minister of Public Safety Canada, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act*, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out below, or acting in those positions, to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution, that is, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, under the section of the Act set out opposite each position.

Dated, at the City of Ottawa, 4th July of 2016.

Signed by the Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety Canada

*R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1

Appendix B: Statistical Report

Reporting period: 2020-04-01 to 2021-03-31

Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Reporting periods: 2020-04-01 to 2021-03-31.

Section 1: Capacity to Receive Requests

Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to receive ATIP requests through the different channels.

Section 2: Capacity to Process Records