OTTAWA — A new report says Canada's access-to-information law remains "effectively crippled" as a means of promoting accountability.
The latest annual study by lobby group Newspapers Canada says long delays, staff shortages and blacked-out pages add up to an Access to Information Act that just doesn't work.
The organization, which represents more than 800 newspapers, sent almost 450 access requests to federal government departments and Crown corporations, ministries, departments and agencies in all provinces and territories and to municipalities and police forces.
The report says the results revealed familiar, entrenched patterns, and some new ones.
People who want information from Canada's cities could expect reasonably speedy service, while provinces, on average, took a little longer and the federal government trailed far behind.
The report says requesters who file a request under the federal Access to Information Act should be prepared for a long wait and to see more information blacked out.
