Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2016-2017

1. 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 72 of the Act, which stipulates that annual reports on access to information shall be tabled in Parliament.

2. 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.

The CRCC's main role 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..

3. 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 statistical 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 Senior Director, Operations, under delegated authority from the Minister of Public Safety, provides the final approval for all responses on ATIP requests and consultations.

4. 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).

5. ACCESS TO INFORMATION REQUESTS RECEIVED

During the course of the reporting period (April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017), the seven (7) Access to Information requests that had been carried forward from the previous year were completed. Eleven (11) new Access to Information requests were also received during the reporting period. Of these new requests, seven (7) were completed during the reporting period and four (4) were carried forward to the 2017-2018 reporting year. Therefore, the CRCC processed fourteen (14) Access to Information requests during the 2016-2017 year.

Of those fourteen (14) requests completed during the reporting period, seven (7) were from former complainants to the CRCC, one was from an RCMP member complained about, three (3) were from the media, one was from a special interest group and two (2) were from private sector businesses.

Nine (9) of those fourteen requests completed during the reporting period resulted in partial disclosures, three requests resulted in full disclosure and no records were found to exist for the other two requests.

6. STATISTICAL REPORT

Consistent with recent years, the CRCC processed a significant number of pages (9,962) in responding to Access to Information requests in the 2016-2017 reporting year.
 
As noted above, the number of Access to Information requests received in 2016-2017 was 11, which is comparable to the number it received the preceding year (12), but less than it received the year before that (16) and significantly less than it received in 2013-14 (23) and 2012-13 (26).

However, the number of pages processed has steadily risen over the last six (6) years:

2016-17    9,962
2015-16    7,570
2014-15    7,063
2013-14    2,972
2012-13    6,622
2011-12    2,552

The CRCC claimed exemptions under paragraph 13(1)(c) (Information obtained in confidence from a provincial government), 13(1)(d) (Information obtained in confidence from a municipal government), sub-paragraph 16(1)(a)(i) (Information obtained or prepared by an investigative body), sub-paragraph 16(1)(a)(ii) (Information obtained or prepared by an investigative body), 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 17 (Information that could threaten the safety of individuals), subsection 19(1) (Personal information), and paragraph 21(1)(a) (Advice or recommendations) of the Act. As the majority of the material requested originated with other departments and external consultation was required, extensions were taken in eleven (11) of the requests completed in the reporting period.

Five (5) requests were not completed within the statutory deadline. The principal reason was the need for external consultation in three (3) cases and CRCC workload in the other two (2).

Finally, in 2016-17, the CRCC received and processed twelve (12) consultations from other Government of Canada institutions. There were no consultations received from other organizations.

See Annex B for the Statistical Report.

7. TRAINING

During the reporting period, CRCC employees were involved in a number of training and educational opportunities relating to access to information and privacy.

One CRCC staff member earned a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) designation with the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Two staff members each completed two courses towards the Information Access and Protection of Privacy Program at the University of Alberta.

One staff member attended the Canada Access & Privacy Association 2016 Conference. And another staff member attended a one-day Privacy Conference.

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.

Delegation Order - Access to Information Act
Section Chairperson Senior Director, Operations ATIP Coordinator
4(2.1) Responsibility of government institutions ● ● ●
7(a) Notice where access requested ● ● ●
7(b) Giving access to record ● ● ●
8(1) Transfer of request to another government institution ● ● ●
9 Extension of time limits ● ● ●
11(2)-(6) Additional Fees ● ● ●
12(2)(b) Language of access ● ● ●
12(3)(b) Access to record in alternative format ● ● ●
13 Exemption - Information obtained in confidence ● ●  
14 Exemption - Federal-provincial affairs ● ●  
15 Exemption - International affairs and defence ● ●  
16 Exemption - Law enforcement and investigations ● ●  
16.5 Exemption - Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act ● ●  
17 Exemption - Safety of individuals ● ●  
18 Exemption - Economic interests of Canada ● ●  
18.1 Exemption - Economic interest of the Canada Post Corporation, Export Development Canada, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and VIA Rail Canada Inc. ● ●  
19 Exemption - Personal information ● ●  
20 Exemption - Third-party information ● ●  
21 Exemption - Operations of Government ● ●  
22 Exemption - Testing procedures, tests and audits ● ●  
22.1 Exemption - Audit working papers and draft audit reports ● ●  
23 Exemption -Solicitor-client privilege ● ●  
24 Exemption - Statutory prohibitions ● ●  
25 Severability ● ●  
26 Exemption – Information to be published ● ● ●
27(1), (4) Third-party notification ● ● ●
28(1)(b), (2), (4) Representations of third party and decision ● ● ●
29(1) Where the Information Commissioner recommends disclosure ● ● ●
33 Advising Information Commissioner of third-party involvement ● ● ●
35(2)(b) Right to make representations ● ● ●
37(4) Access to be given to complainant ● ● ●
43(1) Notice to third party (application to Federal Court for review) ● ● ●
44(2) Notice to person who requested record (application to Federal Court by third party) ● ● ●
52(2)(b) Special rules for hearings ● ●  
52(3) Ex parte representations ● ●  
71(1) Facilities for inspection of manuals ● ●  
72 Report to Parliament ● ●  
Delegation Order - Access to Information Regulations
Section Chairperson Senior Director, Operations ATIP Coordinator
6(1) Transfer of request ● ● ●
7(2) Search and preparation fees ● ● ●
7(3) Production and programming fees ● ● ●
8 Providing access to record(s) ● ● ●
8.1 Limitations in respect of format ● ●  

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

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

ANNEX B: Statistical Report

Reporting period: 2016-04-01 to 2017-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 11
Outstanding from previous reporting period 7
Total 18
Closed during reporting period 14
Carried over to next reporting period 4

1.2 Sources of requests

Source Number of Requests
Media 1
Academia 1
Business (private sector) 2
Organization 1
Public 4
Decline to Identify 2
Total 11

1.3 Informal requests

Completion Time
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of Requests Completion Time
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
All disclosed 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
Disclosed in part 0 0 2 3 2 2 0 9
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No records exist 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Request transferred 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 2 1 2 4 2 2 1 14

2.2 Exemptions

Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests
* I.A.: International Affairs Def.: Defence of Canada S.A.: Subversive Activities
13(1)(a) 0 16(2) 2 18(a) 0 20.1 0
13(1)(b) 0 16(2)(a) 0 18(b) 0 20.2 0
13(1)(c) 1 16(2)(b) 0 18(c) 0 20.4 0
13(1)(d) 1 16(2)(c) 0 18(d) 0 21(1)(a) 2
13(1)(e) 0 16(3) 0 18.1(1)(a) 0 21(1)(b) 0
14 0 16.1(1)(a) 0 18.1(1)(b) 0 21(1)(c) 0
14(a) 0 16.1(1)(b) 0 18.1(1)(c) 0 21(1)(d) 0
14(b) 0 16.1(1)(c) 0 18.1(1)(d) 0 22 0
15(1) 0 16.1(1)(d) 0 19(1) 5 22.1(1) 0
15(1) - I.A.* 0 16.2(1) 0 20(1)(a) 0 23 1
15(1) - Def.* 0 16.3 0 20(1)(b) 0 24(1) 0
15(1) - S.A.* 0 16.4(1)(a) 0 20(1)(b.1) 0 26 0
16(1)(a)(i) 4 16.4(1)(b) 0 20(1)(c) 0    
16(1)(a)(ii) 2 16.5 0 20(1)(d) 0    
16(1)(a)(iii) 0 17 2        
16(1)(b) 0            
16(1)(c) 1            
16(1)(d) 0            

2.3 Exclusions

Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests
68(a) 0 69(1) 0 69(1)(g) re (a) 0
68(b) 0 69(1)(a) 0 69(1)(g) re (b) 0
68(c) 0 69(1)(b) 0 69(1)(g) re (c) 0
68.1 0 69(1)(c) 0 69(1)(g) re (d) 0
68.2(a) 0 69(1)(d) 0 69(1)(g) re (e) 0
68.2(b) 0 69(1)(e) 0 69(1)(g) re (f) 0
69(1)(f) 0 69.1(1) 0

2.4 Format of information released

Disposition Paper Electronic Other Formats
All disclosed 1 2 0
Disclosed in part 5 4 0
Total 6 6 0

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
Disposition of Requests Number of Pages Processed Number of Pages Disclosed Number of Requests
All disclosed 176 176 3
Disclosed in part 9786 8237 9
All exempted 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 1
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0
2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
Disposition Less Than 100
Pages Processed		 101-500
Pages Processed		 501-1000
Pages Processed		 1001-5000
Pages Processed		 More Than 5000
Pages Processed
Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed
All disclosed 2 19 1 157 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 2 102 2 560 2 1077 3 6498 1 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 121 3 717 2 1077 3 6498 1 0
2.5.3 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation Required Assessment of Fees Legal Advice Sought Other Total
All disclosed 1 0 0 1 2
Disclosed in part 9 0 0 2 11
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 1
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0
Total 10 0 0 3 13

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline Principal Reason
Workload External Consultation Internal Consultation Other
5 2 3 0 0
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
Number of Days Past Deadline Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken Number of Requests Past Deadline Where An Extension Was Taken Total
1 to 15 days 0 2 2
16 to 30 days 0 0 0
31 to 60 days 0 1 1
61 to 120 days 0 1 1
121 to 180 days 0 0 0
181 to 365 days 0 0 1
More than 365 days 0 0 0
Total 0 5 5

2.7 Requests for translation

Translation Requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Part 3: Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken 9(1)(a)
Interference With Operations		 9(1)(b)
Consultation		 9(1)(c)
Third-Party Notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 1 0 1 0
Disclosed in part 1 0 9 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0
No records exist 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0
Total 2 0 10 0

3.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions 9(1)(a)
Interference With Operations		 9(1)(b)
Consultation		 9(1)(c)
Third-Party Notice
Section 69 Other
30 days or less 0 0 3 0
31 to 60 days 1 0 2 0
61 to 120 days 1 0 3 0
121 to 180 days 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 days 0 0 2 0
365 days or more 0 0 0 0
Total 2 0 10 0

Part 4: Fees

Fee Type Fee Collected Fee Waived or Refunded
Number of
Requests		 Amount Number of
Requests		 Amount
Application 12 $60 2 $10
Search 0 $0 0 $0
Production 0 $0 0 $0
Programming 0 $0 0 $0
Preparation 0 $0 0 $0
Alternative format 0 $0 0 $0
Reproduction 0 $0 0 $0
Total 12 $60 2 $10

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

Consultations Other Government of Canada Institutions Number of Pages to Review Other Organizations Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period 12 1210 0 0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 0 0 0 0
Total 12 1210 0 0
Closed during the reporting period 12 1210 0 0
Pending at the end of the reporting period 0 0 0 0

5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Recommendation Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
Disclose entirely 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 10
Disclose in part 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 12

5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Recommendation Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
Disclose entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclose in part 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

6.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed 101-500 Pages Processed 501-1000
Pages Processed		 1001-5000
Pages Processed		 More Than 5000
Pages Processed
Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed 101‒500 Pages Processed 501-1000
Pages Processed		 1001-5000
Pages Processed		 More Than 5000
Pages Processed
Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed Number of
Requests		 Pages Disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Section 32 Section 35 Section 37 Total
2 2 1 5

Part 8: Court Action

Section 41 Section 42 Section 44 Total
0 0 0 0

Part 9: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

9.1 Costs

Expenditures Amount
Salaries $39,271
Overtime $0
Goods and Services $0
- Professional services contracts $0  
- Other $0  
Total $39,271

9.2 Human Resources

Resources Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Note: Enter values to two decimal places.
Full-time employees 0.49
Part-time and casual employees 0.00
Regional staff 0.00
Consultants and agency personnel 0.00
Students 0.00
Total 0.49
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