Feds losing ground on timely Access to Information responses: commissioner

OTTAWA – Canada’s federal information czar says new statistics show the government is backsliding when it comes to answering Access to Information requests in a timely way.

Suzanne Legault notes fewer requests were being answered within 30 days in 2011-12 than during the previous year.

In addition, about 15 per cent of requests were answered late — even though federal agencies can grant themselves generous extensions.

Legault calls the developments disquieting.

In a release accompanying the statistics, Treasury Board President Tony Clement says the Harper government is the most transparent in Canadian history.

Clement says the government completed 43,664 Access to Information requests in 2011-12, nearly double the number of a decade ago.