Access to Information Act Privacy Act Treasury Board Secretariat ArchivedNumber 23 November 2000 © Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2000 Catalogue No. BT51-3/10-2-2000 ISBN 0-662-64998-2 ISSN 1187-1741 Also available on the Info Source Web site at the following Archivedaddress: http://infosource.gc.ca/ BULLETIN Table of Contents Statistical Tables 1999-2000 – Access to Information . 5 Statistical Tables 1999-2000 – Privacy . 11 Statistical Tables 1983-2000 – Access to Information . 17 Statistical Tables 1983-2000 – Privacy . 21 Federal Court Cases. 25 Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators. 201 Use of the Social Insurance Number. 225 Information on the Government of Canada and the Canada Site. 231 Depository Services Program . 235 Note: This Bulletin is in large print to assist persons with visual disabilities. Archived3 BULLETIN STATISTICAL TABLES 1999-2000 ACCESS TO INFORMATION Archived5 BULLETIN Access to Information – 1999-2000 Disposition of Requests Requests received 19,294 Requests completed 100.0% 18,489 (Includes requests brought forward from previous year) Disposition of requests completed: All disclosed 40.6% 7,491 Some disclosed 33.7% 6,234 No records disclosed – excluded 0.3% 62 No records disclosed – exempted 2.8% 521 Transferred 1.7% 306 Treated informally 2.3% 433 Could not be processed 18.6% 3,442 (Reasons include insufficient information provided by applicant, no records exist and abandonment by applicant) Archived7 BULLETIN Access to Information – 1999-2000 Source of Requests Requests received 100.0% 19,294 Public 40.7% 7,857 Business 32.0% 6,167 Media 14.4% 2,774 Organizations 11.9% 2,291 Academics 1.0% 205 Access to Information – 1999-2000 Ten Institutions Receiving Most Requests Requests received by all institutions 100.0% 19,294 Citizenship and Immigration 24.5% 4,726 National Archives 11.0% 2,114 Health 7.2% 1,389 Human Resources Development 5.6% 1073 National Defence 5.5% 1063 Public Works and Government Services 3.8% 737 Royal Canadian Mounted Police 3.4% 661 Immigration and Refugee Board 3.3% 643 Canada Customs and Revenue Agency 3.1% 594 Foreign Affairs and International Trade 2.9% 561 Other Departments 29.7% 5,733 Archived8 BULLETIN Access to Information – 1999-2000 Time Required to Complete Requests Requests completed 100.0% 18,489 0 – 30 days 63.2% 11,686 31 – 60 days 16.4% 3,036 61 + days 20.4% 3,767 Access to Information – 1999-2000 Exemptions Total exemptions 100.0% 16,155 Section 19 – Personal information 28.0% 4,526 Section 20 – Third party information 26.0% 4,177 Section 21 – Operations of government 17.6% 2,836 Section 16 – Law enforcement and investigations 6.8% 1106 Section 23 – Solicitor-client privilege 5.5% 889 Section 15 – International affairs and defence 5.0% 801 Section 13 – Information obtained 4.6% 748 in confidence Section 14 – Federal-provincial affairs 2.3% 373 Section 18 – Economic interests of Canada 2.0% 326 Archived9 BULLETIN Section 24 – Statutory prohibitions 1.4% 224 Section 22 – Testing procedures 0.3% 56 Section 17 – Safety of individuals 0.3% 53 Section 26 – Information to be published 0.2% 40 Access to Information – 1999-2000 Costs and Fees for Operations Requests completed 18,489 Cost of operations $17,143,480 Cost per request completed $927 Fees collected $217,832 Fees collected per request completed $11.78 Fees waived $165,564 Fees waived per request completed $8.95 Archived10 BULLETIN STATISTICAL TABLES 1999-2000 PRIVACY Archived11 BULLETIN Privacy – 1999-2000 Disposition of Requests Requests received 36,083 Requests completed 100.0% 37,800 (Includes requests brought forward from previous year) Disposition of requests completed: All disclosed 47.1% 17,804 Some disclosed 35.9% 13,564 No records disclosed – excluded 0.0% 8 No records disclosed – exempted 0.9% 327 Could not be processed 16.1% 6,097 (Reasons include insufficient information provided by applicant, no records exist and abandonment by applicant) Archived13 BULLETIN Privacy – 1999-2000 Five Institutions Receiving Most Requests Requests received by all institutions 100.0% 36,083 Human Resources Development 23.4% 8,443 National Defence 18.2% 6,579 Correctional Service 14.2% 5,127 National Archives 10.6% 3,814 Citizenship and Immigration 10.2% 3,673 Other Departments 23.4% 8,447 Privacy – 1999-2000 Time Required to Complete Requests Requests completed 100.0% 37,800 0 – 30 days 63.3% 23,919 31 – 60 days 15.0% 5,661 61 + days 21.7% 8,220 Archived14 BULLETIN Privacy – 1999-2000 Exemptions Total exemptions 100.0% 17,246 Section 26 – Information about another individual 63.5% 10,962 Section 22 – Law enforcement and investigation 20.5% 3,531 Section 19 – Personal information obtained in confidence 7.9% 1,366 Section 24 – Individuals sentenced for an offence 3.2% 548 Section 27 – Solicitor-client privilige 2.2% 373 Section 21 – International Affairs and defence 1.7% 294 Section 23 – Security clearances 0.4% 64 Section 18 – Exempt banks 0.3% 52 Section 25 – Safety of individuals 0.2% 37 Section 28 – Medical records 0.1% 15 Section 20 – Federal-provincial affairs 0.0% 4 Archived15 BULLETIN Privacy – 1999-2000 Costs and Fees for Operations Requests completed 37,800 Cost of operations $9,671,744 Cost per request completed $256 Archived16 BULLETIN STATISTICAL TABLES 1983-2000 ACCESS TO INFORMATION Archived17 BULLETIN Access to Information – 1983-2000 Disposition of Requests Requests received 165,108 Requests completed 100.0% 160,061 (Includes requests brought forward from previous year) Disposition of requests completed: All disclosed 34.7% 55,619 Some disclosed 35.0% 55,898 No records disclosed – excluded 0.6% 986 No records disclosed – exempted 3.2% 5,180 Transferred 2.0% 3,237 Treated informally 5.3% 8,418 Could not be processed 19.2% 30,723 (Reasons include insufficient information provided by applicant, no records exist and abandonment by applicant) Archived19 BULLETIN Access to Information – 1983-2000 Time Required to Complete Requests Requests completed 100.0% 160,061 0 – 30 days 57.5% 92,067 31 – 60 days 17.9% 28,624 61 + days 24.6% 39,370 Access to Information – 1983-2000 Costs and Fees for Operations Requests completed 160,061 Cost of operations $142,357,369 Cost per request completed $889 Fees collected $2,310,073 Fees collected per request completed $14.00 Fees waived $896,705 Fees waived per request completed $5.00 Archived20 BULLETIN STATISTICAL TABLES 1983-2000 PRIVACY Archived21 BULLETIN Privacy – 1983-2000 Disposition of Requests Requests received 700,083 Requests completed 100.0% 694,943 (Includes requests brought forward from previous year) Disposition of requests completed: All disclosed 60.6% 421,438 Some disclosed 25.0% 174,043 No records disclosed – excluded 0.1% 120 No records disclosed – exempted 0.9% 6,029 Could not be processed 13.4% 93,313 (Reasons include insufficient information provided by applicant, no records exist and abandonment by applicant) Archived23 BULLETIN Privacy – 1983-2000 Time Required to Complete Requests Requests completed 100.0% 694,943 0 – 30 days 60.0% 416,467 31– 60 days 21.3% 147,887 61 + days 18.7% 130,589 Privacy – 1983-2000 Costs and Fees for Operations Requests completed 694,943 Cost of operations $117,074,006 Cost per request completed $168 Archived24 BULLETIN FEDERAL COURT CASES Prepared by the Information Law and Privacy Section, Department of Justice Archived25 BULLETIN CUNHA V. MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE INDEXED AS: CUNHA V. CANADA (MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE – M.N.R.) File No.: T-1023-98 References: [1999] F.C.J. No. 667 (QL) (F.C.T.D.) Date of Decision: March 5, 1999 Before: Reed J. (F.C.T.D.) Section(s) of ATIA / PA: Ss. 14, 15, 16(3), 29(1), 41 Privacy Act (PA) Abstract • Delay in responding to request • Application for declaration of breach of statutory right to receive response or be given notice of extension • Complaint condition precedent to Court’s jurisdiction • S. 29(1) setting out circumstances of complaint • Deemed refusal falling within s. 29(1)(h)(i)j25 • Court without jurisdiction as no complaint made Issues Whether the Court has jurisdiction to grant the relief sought in the absence of a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner and whether a deemed refusal can be the proper subject-matter of a complaint. Archived27 BULLETIN Facts The applicant sought a declaration that his rights under s. 14 of the Privacy Act to receive a response within 30 days or to be given notice of an extension of time under s. 15 of the Act were infringed. The applicant made a request dated January 13, 1998 to obtain certain personal information from Revenue Canada. He was provided with the requested documents on July 8, 1998. The respondent argued that the issue of the applicant’s rights under ss. 14 and 15 was now moot and that, in any event, the Court has no jurisdiction because the applicant did not make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. The declaration is sought as it would appear that there is no mechanism in the Act whereby the Privacy Commissioner can require compliance with the statutory time limit. Decision The application for a declaration was dismissed. Reasons The Court held that it was without jurisdiction to grant the remedy sought. Section 41 makes it clear that the Act contemplates complaints being made, first, to the Privacy Commissioner before any application for relief can be made to the Court. Since there had been no complaint in this case, the Court held that it was without jurisdiction to grant the remedy sought. Archived28 BULLETIN The Court started its analysis by referring to subs.