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Section II: Plans and Priorities

2.1 Factors Influencing the OIC

Operating Environment

This section describes the main operations of the OIC and the impact of external and internal factors on its program delivery, in particular during the period covered by this Report on Plans and Priorities.

Major Program Delivery Mechanisms

Complaints Resolution

The OIC receives and investigates complaints from individuals who believe that federal institutions have not respected their rights under the Access to Information Act. The Office usually receives two types of complaints: those that are administrative in nature (for example, fees, delays and extensions) and those stemming from federal institutions’ refusal to disclose information (for example, when they apply exemptions and exclusions).

The Commissioner makes recommendations to institutions on the resolution of complaints. He has, however, no order-making powers so when an institution does not follow his recommendations, his only recourse is to the Federal Court of Canada. This being said, the Commissioner favours alternative means of dispute resolution, such as mediation, over formal hearings and the exercise of judicial powers during investigations. The Commissioner believes a "three Cs" approach – collaboration, cooperation and consultation – yields positive results. The Commissioner is nevertheless prepared to pursue judicial review in situations where there is an important principle of law.

Advocacy and Compliance

The Commissioner encourages federal institutions to develop and follow sound information-handling practices. The Office monitors the performance of federal institutions engaging in systemic or repeated breaches of the Act and recommends actions to improve compliance. The Office aims to be vigorous and responsible in ensuring that the Act is working effectively. The Office also provides relevant information and objective advice about the access to information implications of legislation, jurisprudence, regulations and policies.

The Commissioner gives an annual account of his activities to Parliament in a report which is issued no later than three months after the end of the fiscal year. He also delivers special reports to Parliament on important or urgent issues.

External Factors Affecting the OIC

The Federal Accountability Act

The introduction of the Federal Accountability Act (FedAA) has had two major impacts on the OIC during 2007-2008 which will be felt in 2008-2009 and subsequent years. First, it has greatly expanded the number of institutions which are subject to the Access to Information Act. More specifically, 70 institutions were added bringing the total to more than 250 institutions now subject to the Act (an increase of 37%). This is expected to have a significant impact on the OIC workload. In fact, the Office has handled an unprecedented caseload since April 2007, receiving double the number of complaints compared to the same time the previous year. In addition, the Office anticipates that the number of requests made to the government will continue to grow, which will likely mean a corresponding rise in the number of complaints we are called on to investigate, although by how much is uncertain at this point.

Secondly, as a result of the coming into force of the FedAA, the OIC itself has become subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. This has meant that we have been required to implement legal and operational measures to comply with both Acts, as well as to establish a process that will allow for independent investigations of any complaints made against the Information Commissioner pursuant to the Act. It is expected that the Office will receive about 200 requests this year. A further increase can be expected once the public becomes fully aware that the OIC is now subject to the Act.

Information Technology and Governance

A major challenge for the Office as well as for any federal institution resides in profound changes in the technological environment in which they operate. Advances in technology have resulted in an increase in the speed of decision-making at all levels of government, with an increase in the quantity of data that is stored within federal institutions, and with that, new challenges in keeping appropriate records of electronic information. Adding to this is the growing number of interdepartmental or complementary issues that require the involvement of several departments and institutions. Indeed, many issues, such as environmental, security and health issues, which are shared by many federal institutions, have contributed to a more complex environment.

Internal Factors Affecting Program Delivery

Backlog

The OIC began the last year with a significant backlog of 1,030 investigations which adversely affected program delivery by reducing the OIC’s capacity to handle current and incoming complaints. To address this backlog, the Office is devising a comprehensive strategy and expects to have the backlog significantly reduced or eliminated during the 2009-2010 fiscal year, given adequate resources are in place. Section 2.2 below under Priority 1 on improved service delivery to information requestors contains further detail on the backlog strategy.

Organizational Capacity

When the Information Commissioner took office last year, there were inherent weaknesses within the organization that hampered its ability to deliver services to parliamentarians, federal institutions and Canadians. Organizational and operational challenges arose from underfunding of the Office itself, insufficient investigative capacity, a lack of internal support services for parliamentary relations, policy development and communications, as well as under-developed administrative services in areas such as finance, information technology and records management.

Staffing

Access to information is a specialized field. There is a shortage of qualified workforce across the government, which was amplified by the substantial increase in the number of institutions now subject to the Act requiring experienced ATIP administrators. The Office will draw on various skill sets and experience in order to staff and train investigators, for example, auditors, evaluators and investigators from other fields or those with a background in law. Large resource investments in training are also expected.

Internal Audit Function

The revised Treasury Board Internal Audit Policy came into effect on April 1, 2006, with the requirement that all Officers of Parliament implement it by April 1, 2009. As a result, the Office is working at establishing an internal audit function. The OIC received approval for new funding to assist in meeting this requirement. The added assurance that the internal audit function will bring to the OIC processes related to risk management, control and governance is aligned to the whole renewal exercise that was embarked on internally.

2.2 Summary of OIC Plans and Priorities for 2008-2009

Based on our program activity and having considered the present internal and external business environment surrounding the OIC, senior management established five (5) priorities to give focus to its activities and further advance towards the achievement of its single Strategic Outcome and single Program Activity and associated expected results (presented earlier in Figure 1). The priorities are presented below and the plans to deliver on each priority are described in the paragraphs that follow:

1. Improve service delivery to information requestors

The Office has devised a backlog strategy and set challenging goals that are expected to be fully implemented during fiscal year 2009-2010. As a first step in 2008-2009, a comprehensive review of the OIC complaints handling process will be completed. This will include a review of service standards, the development of an approach for the triage and prioritization of complaints, and an assessment of the resources required to fully implement the strategy. The Office has already determined that benefits can be attained from a dedicated intake function and an early resolution function: an enhanced client-service focus, improved response time for more straightforward complaints, and more productive use of investigative staff. Using available resources, the Office will start implementing these two new functions on a pilot basis in 2008-2009.

2. Renew the approach to the performance assessment of federal institutions

Report cards have proven to be a valuable tool in triggering more compliance with the Act and instigating process-related changes. However, in recent years, they have not been as effective as they could be in leading institutions to reach the highest level of compliance based on the grading scale. A renewed approach to performance reviews and the dissemination of best practices is proposed.

On a preliminary basis, two areas for improvement that could, once change is implemented, make report cards more relevant and hopefully more useful to Parliament have been identified. A first finding is that the current process does not accurately reflect or communicate ongoing efforts by institutions to improve compliance, or does not clearly identify the reasons why selected institutions are performing the way they are. A second finding is that the process is not linked to the fiscal year performance management framework, and hence, it has limited impact in holding heads of institutions accountable for the access to information performance of their institution in a timely fashion.

In 2008-2009, reviews will consider all contextual elements that may affect performance. Along the report cards, the Office will concurrently publish action plans and responses from the selected federal institutions. The aim is to provide more detailed information and content that goes beyond a simple rating of access to information request delays. The current review period will also be changed to put it in line with the government’s performance management cycle and will begin the review process at the end of fiscal year 2007-2008.

3. Integrate, to the operations, the implications of the coming into force of the Federal Accountability Act

The FedAA and resulting amendments to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, which came into force on April 1, 2007, have made the Office one of 70 Crown corporations and their wholly owned subsidiaries, foundations and agencies that are now subject to the Acts for the first time.

The Office now has a dual role of processing access to information requests and investigating complaints against federal institutions on their handling of access to information requests. This brings with it significant challenges and notable financial and operational implications that we will continue to address in 2008-2009.

A first challenge is to establish an exemplary access to information and privacy process for the Office, since the public and others will carefully scrutinize the OIC’s compliance with the Acts, and management and disclosure of information. A second challenge is dealing with the conflict that arises as a result of being subject to the Act while still being mandated to independently and impartially investigate complaints arising from requests under it. The FedAA does not include safeguards against this situation; nonetheless, the Office is legally required to establish and implement a mechanism to address it. To that end, former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, the Honourable Peter de C. Cory, was engaged to undertake the role of ad hoc Commissioner, with the same functions and powers as the Information Commissioner to conduct investigations of, and make recommendations to, the Office on its obligations under the Act. In 2008-2009 Mr. Cory will be supported by qualified investigators and an administrative coordinator, as required. A third challenge is managing the larger volume of complaints and reviews, and providing assistance to the institutions that have just become subject to the Act as they gain experience in administering the Act and the complaint process.

4. Modernize Access to Information

The Commissioner stands ready to assist the Parliament and government in modernizing the access to information program. Over the next year, the Office will continue to work with the Department of Justice and the Treasury Board Secretariat in developing legislative and administrative initiatives about access to information.

Part of this priority is also closely monitoring new statutory requirements in the ATIA such as the concept of the "duty to assist" that now requires the head of an institution to make every reasonable effort to assist a requestor, respond to the requestor accurately and completely, and provide access to the record in the format requested.

5. Build organizational capacity

When the Information Commissioner took office last year, the state of the affairs of the Office seriously affected its ability to deliver services to parliamentarians, federal institutions and Canadians. Not only was the investigative capacity deficient, but support services, as well as administrative and corporate services, were either undeveloped or nonexistent.

As a first order of business, the OIC sought and received approval for additional funds to comply with the requirements of the Access to Information Act as amended by the Federal Accountability Act, as well as to establish and maintain an internal audit function.

The OIC also received approval for funding to undertake a review of operations and funding levels (A-base review) to determine whether current levels may adversely impact the ability of the Office to deliver on the legislative mandate and put the integrity of the program at risk.

Further, considerable efforts continue to be put towards building organizational capacity and develop the core functions of the organization.

Staffing

In order to improve service delivery (priority 1) through addressing the backlog and to implement changes contained in the Federal Accountability Act (priority 3), the Office will increase its investigative capacity through competitions, deployments, secondments and exchange opportunities where feasible, to attract individuals to the PM-02 to PM-05 levels that either have experience in access to information administration or relevant skill sets and experience in conducting investigations, audits or evaluations in other fields, or a legal background. New staff joining the organization will be trained based on personal learning plans.

Parliamentary Relations

As an Officer of Parliament, the Commissioner has a special rapport with Parliament. Parliamentarians rely on the Commissioner for objective advice about access to information implications of legislation, jurisprudence, regulations and policies. As such, the Commissioner is devoted to assist Parliament in playing its vital role of holding federal institutions and officials to account for the proper administration of the Act. In order to better achieve this goal, the OIC has set up a function dedicated to responding to inquiries of parliamentarians and be more proactive in informing legislators and decision-makers on access to information issues.

Communications

An area where significant improvements are required relates to the Office’s capability to communicate with various stakeholders to promote the role and perspective of the Office in ensuring compliance with the Act. Work started in 2007-2008 with the hiring of a Communications Advisor. The Communications Advisor will have the task of setting up a communications unit. Over the next year, the unit will be responsible for undertaking an overhaul of the website, revamping the Annual Report, establishing a media relations function and preparing for special events, such as the 25^th Anniversary of the Act and Right to Know Week.

Internal Audit

As a result of the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Audit, the Office will establish an internal audit function that complies with the policy and directives while also preserving the OIC’s independence from government. This includes the appointment of a chief audit executive, development of a risk-based internal audit plan, and setting up of an independent audit committee formed with members external to the Office and the Public Service of Canada.

IM/IT

Another area where significant changes will occur is information management. The Office is working with the Library and Archives Canada on a pilot project which will develop documentation standards for a small organization such as the OIC. This project will be helpful for establishing accountability and stewardship under the Management Accountability Framework (MAF), assessing performance under Management, Resources and Results Structure (MRRS) and facilitating access to information. In terms of information technologies, the Office will modernize its systems to provide investigators with more effective tools to do their work.

Policy Development

Moving forward, the Office will strengthen its internal policy and research capabilities to provide advice to Parliament, but also to federal institutions, as well as bringing the Office’s unique perspective and expertise in developing sound policies. During 2007-2008, the Office took part in inter-institutional policy projects with Officers of Parliament, provincial and territorial regulators and/or federal institutions. Bolstering this important capacity will contribute to putting issues relating to access to information at the forefront, thereby supporting the Office’s chief goal of fostering a culture of openness.

2.3 Analysis by Program Activity

The priorities, discussed in the previous section, serve to advance the achievement of the OIC’s results over the next three fiscal years with an emphasis on 2008-2009. Priorities are refined annually based on the changing environment of the OIC while the results expected from OIC (see OIC Results Framework in Figure 1 of this Report on Plans and Priorities) remain relatively stable, being based on the Office’s mandate.

The OIC Program Activity Architecture (PAA) is composed of a single strategic outcome and a single program activity as follows, which are supported by internal services:

Strategic Outcome	Requestors’ rights under the Access to Information Act are respected.
Program Activity	Compliance with access to information obligations

Section 2.3 presents the OIC’s expected results with the associated performance indicators against which the Office will measure its success starting in 2008-2009. This section links the 2008-2009 priorities (described in Section 2.2) to the PAA and to the expected results.

The OIC has developed its performance measurement framework as part of Step 2 implementation of the MRRS Policy in the fall of 2007. The new performance measurement framework will be implemented at OIC over 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. While Step 2 of the MRRS did not include internal services, the OIC intends to articulate expected results and performance indicators for its internal services in the near future. The internal services are essential to support the Program Activity.

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
Strategic Outcome	Performance Indicators
Requestors’ rights under the Access to Information Act are respected.	Proportion of recommendations that are adopted (recommendations from investigations in response to complaints and Commissioner-initiated investigations) Timeliness of the follow-up actions on recommendations

Planned Resources	2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
Financial Resources ($ thousands)	$9,638	$8,512	$8,512
Human Resources	90 FTEs	82 FTEs	82 FTEs

Program Activity: Compliance with access to information obligations

Activity Description

The Access to Information Act is the legislative authority for the activities of the Information Commissioner as an independent ombudsman:

• To investigate complaints from individuals;
• To review the performance of government institutions;
• To report the results of investigations/reviews and recommendations to complainants, federal institutions, and Parliament;
• To pursue judicial review; and
• To provide advice to Parliament on access to information matters.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators
1. Requestors benefit from a fair and effective  complaints resolution process.	Quality and timeliness of the investigation process (including investigation, legal review, approval and report of findings)
2. Stakeholders understand the role and perspective of OIC in ensuring compliance with the Access to Information Act.	Reach to, and feedback from, stakeholders (i.e., the public, requestors, ATIP Coordinators community, other) through: public events, speaking engagements, access to proper web-based and other tools and information
3. Federal institutions meet their obligations under the Access to Information Act.	Proportion of investigation recommendations that are adopted Proportion of Report Card recommendations (made in the annual Access to Information Performance of Government Institutions) that are adopted
4. The Courts receive useful representations and relevant evidence about access issues, the proper interpretation of the provisions of the Access to Information Act, related statutes, regulations and jurisprudence.	Proportion of the court cases where judgments support OIC representations (either to sustain or clarify interpretation of the statutes) and/or where OIC evidence was considered as part of the Courts’ deliberations
5. Parliament receives clear, relevant information and timely, objective advice about the access to information implications of legislation, jurisprudence, regulations and policies.	Value of OIC information and advice provided to parliamentarians and Parliamentary Committees

Planned Resources	2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
Financial Resources ($ thousands)	$9,638	$8,512	$8,512
Human Resources	90 FTEs	82 FTEs	82 FTEs

Priorities for the Program Activity

Over the next three years, and particularly in 2008-2009, the OIC will progress towards achieving the above expected results by pursuing the following priorities:

Priorities	Type
Improve service delivery to information requestors	New
Renew the approach to the performance assessment of federal institutions	New
Integrate, to the operations, the implications of the coming into force of the Federal Accountability Act	New
Modernize Access to Information	New

Other Activity: Internal Services

Activity Description

Internal services offer essential support to the Program Activity – Compliance with Access to information obligations. These internal services, for which the definition is not yet definitive, cover: management, financial, human resources, information management and technology, public affairs/communications, internal audit and evaluation, and administrative services. Resources associated with internal services have been incorporated to the Program Activity they support.

Priority for this Program Activity

Over the next three years, and particularly in 2008-2009, the OIC will pursue the following priority in the area of internal services:

Priority	Type
Build organizational capacity	New

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