Access-to-Information

More on our initiatives for
Improving Access to Information

Access to information is the right of the public to obtain information held by public bodies as well as an obligation for governments to ensure records are created, maintained, and made readily available. Access to information is essential for informed public discourse on which democracy depends. It not only facilitates developing effective solutions to societal problems but also empowers communities that have historically been marginalized and silenced.

Featured Blog Events
News June 10, 2024

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services' chill on access to information recognized with Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy

The Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) has been selected as this year's recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the municipal category for its efforts to charge exorbitantly high fees for access to a fire investigation report already paid for by taxpayers. 
Access-to-Information
News June 6, 2024

CFE joins 13 other organizations in deploring government plans to rush the Countering Foreign Interference Act through Parliament without allowing meaningful study

In an open letter today to the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, the Centre for Free Expression and 13 other civil society organizations expressed their deep concerns with the speed with which Bill C-70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, is currently being rushed through the legislative process.
Freedom of Expression & Its Limits, Privacy & Surveillance, Access-to-Information
News May 23, 2024

Nova Scotia premier's office recognized with award for punting promises to empower province's information and privacy commissioner

The Premier of Nova Scotia, Tim Houston, has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the provincial Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy for his bait-and-switch on the 2021 election promise by his own government-to-be to strengthen his province's notoriously toothless freedom of information law by giving order-making power to its information. commissioner.
Access-to-Information
Policy Submission February 9, 2024

CFE Closing Submission to the Foreign Interference Commission

CFE urged the Commission to act on the testimony of expert panels and witnesses that there is an immense public interest in transparency regarding foreign interference. "The Commission cannot defer to the Government of Canada’s conclusions on what can and cannot be disclosed [but must] be prepared to seek recourse in Federal Court on an expedited basis" in the event the Government attempts to overly restrict public access to essential documents about foreign interference.
Access-to-Information, Freedom of the Press