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This enactment amends the Access to Information Act. New
provisions are added concerning the destruction and falsification of
records. A duty to disclose information relating to the actual or
threatened destruction or falsification of a record is created. The duty is
accompanied by immunity from prosecution and protection against
reprisals by the employer towards the informant. Three new criminal
offences with prison terms are created in connection with the
destruction and falsification of records.
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In addition, to encourage heads of government institutions to
observe the time limits set out in the Act for responding to a request for
access to a record, the Information Commissioner will now be required
to prepare a semi-annual list of the names of those who have not
complied. This list will be tabled in Parliament and referred to the
Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. The committee will
hear from the persons listed, will question them on the reasons for the
delay and will publish the list twice yearly. Also, an administrative
penalty will be imposed on non-complying government institutions so
that they will no longer be able to charge fees for responding to requests
or to rely on certain exceptions in refusing to disclose a record.
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The enactment also provides for the implementation of the 17
recommendations made by the Information Commissioner in his
1995-1996 Annual Report. These concern changes to the manner in
which confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada are
handled. A mandatory exemption has been created so that some
confidential records cannot be disclosed and so that decisions regarding
a refusal to give access can be appealed to a body independent of the
executive power. These changes take account of the current realities of
the cabinet confidences system, the need to protect the confidentiality
of cabinet deliberations and the obligation to provide for certain
exceptions to allow the disclosure of records that would not reveal the
substance of deliberations of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. A
provision providing for the disclosure of records when this is in the
public interest and another limiting the Information Commissioner's
power of delegation have been added.
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Finally, various amendments were made necessary as a result of
these changes and affect, inter alia, definitions, offences, regulatory
powers and the National Archives of Canada Act.
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