The access law allows journalists and others who pay a $5 fee to request documents — from internal emails and expense claims to briefing memos and studies — but it has long been criticized as antiquated and poorly administered.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
A House of Commons committee is reviewing the access law — by Beeby’s count, at least the 16th broad study of the federal act since it was passed. In addition, the law provides a rich menu of excuses to keep things buried, he said. “So when stale-dated access documents finally do arrive on a reporter’s desk, they’ve been picked clean of meaningful contents.”
“And 40 years is frankly, well, a long time without making any concerted efforts to solve the problem,” he told the MPs.