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Bill C-264

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    (d.2) from persons who have been refused access to a record or part thereof by reason of paragraph 68(a) because it is published material or material available for purchase by the public and they consider the material to be not reasonably priced or not reasonably accessible to the public;

22. Section 31 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Written complaint

31. A complaint under this Act shall be made to the Information Commissioner in writing unless the Commissioner authorizes otherwise and shall, where the complaint relates to a request for access to a record, be made within one year from the time when the request for the record in respect of which the complaint is made was received or within such further time as the Commissioner may fix or allow.

23. Section 38 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 38(1) and is amended by adding the following:

Naming government institutions that fail to take action

(2) The Information Commissioner shall set out in the annual report the name of every government institution, if any, the head of which, in the opinion of the Information Commissioner, failed in the year, without valid excuse, to take any action required by this Act.

Opportunity to make represen-
tations

(3) Before naming a government institution, the Information Commissioner shall provide the head of the government institution with an opportunity to make representations in respect of the failure to take the required action.

24. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 67:

Obstructing right of access

67.1 (1) A person who wilfully obstructs any person's right of access under this Act to any record under the control of a government institution is guilty of an offence.

Defence

(2) No person who destroys information in accordance with the National Archives Act commits an offence under subsection (1).

Offence and punishment

(3) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable

    (a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or to both; and

    (b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to both.

25. Paragraph 68(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (a) published material or material available for purchase by the public if that material is reasonably priced and reasonably accessible to the public;

26. Section 69 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada

69. (1) This Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Definitions

(2) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

``confi-
dences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada''
« renseigne-
ments confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada »

``confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada'' means any information that would reveal the substance of deliberations between ministers of the Crown in respect of the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy, including decisions of Council before they are implemented.

``Council'' « Conseil »

``Council'' means the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet.

Exception

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for more than twenty years.

27. Paragraph 77(1)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (d) prescribing the manner of calculating fees or amounts payable for the purposes of paragraphs 11(1)(a) and (b) and subsections 11(2) and (3);

28. Schedule II of the Act is repealed.

RELATED AMENDMENTS

R.S., c. C-5

Canada Evidence Act

29. (1) Section 39 of the Canada Evidence Act is replaced by the following:

Objection relating to a confidence of the Queen's Privy Council

39. (1) Where a minister of the Crown or the Clerk of the Privy Council or, in the absence of the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council objects to the disclosure of information before a court, person or body with jurisdiction to compel the production of information by certifying in writing that the information constitutes a confidence of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, disclosure of the information shall be refused without examination or hearing of the information by the court, person or body.

Definitions

(2) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

``confi-
dences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada''
« renseigne-
ments confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada »

``confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada'' means any information that would reveal the substance of deliberations between ministers of the Crown in respect of the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy, including decisions of Council before they are implemented.

``Council''
« Conseil »

``Council'' means the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet.

Exception

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for more than twenty years.

1992, c. 20

Corrections and Conditional Release Act

30. Section 196 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is replaced by the following:

Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada

196. (1) The powers of the Correctional Investigator under sections 172, 173 and 174 do not apply with respect to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Definitions

(2) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

``confi-
dences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada''
« renseigne-
ments confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada »

``confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada'' means any information that would reveal the substance of deliberations between ministers of the Crown in respect of the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy, including decisions of Council before they are implemented.

``Council''
« Conseil »

``Council'' means the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet.

Exception

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for more than twenty years.

1987, c. 1

National Archives Act

31. Section 2 of the National Archives Act is amended by replacing the definition of ``record'' with the following:

``record''
« document »

``record'' includes any correspondence, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work, photograph, film, microform, sound recording, videotape, machine readable record, and any other recorded information , regardless of physical form or characteristics or the medium in which it is held, including material on which data is recorded or marked and that is capable of being read or understood by a person or a computer system or other means, electronic mail, electronic data interchange and computer conferencing , and a copy of any of these things ;

R.S., c. P-1

Parliament of Canada Act

32. The Parliament of Canada Act is amended by adding the following after section 4:

Access to information

4.1 (1) The Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament shall provide a right of access to information in records under their control respecting the financial administration of those institutions.

Application of Access to Information Act

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Access to Information Act applies to the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament as if, under subsection 2(1) of that Act,

    (a) they were government institutions;

    (b) the Speaker of the Senate were the designated Minister and the head of the institution in respect of the Senate; and

    (c) the Speaker of the House of Commons were the designated Minister and the head of the institution in respect of the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.

Limitation

(3) For greater certainty, this section does not apply to the Members of the Senate or the House of Commons or their staffs.

R.S., c. P-21

Privacy Act

33. (1) Section 70 the Privacy Act is replaced by the following:

Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada

70. (1) This Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Definitions

(2) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

``confi-
dences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada'' « renseigne-
ments confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada »

``confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada'' means any information that would reveal the substance of deliberations between ministers of the Crown in respect of the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy, including decisions of Council before they are implemented.

``Council''
« Conseil »

``Council'' means the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of Cabinet.

Exception

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence for more than twenty years.

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