Archived - Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2012-2013

Archived - Department of Finance Canada
Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration
of the Access to Information Act 2012–2013

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Introduction

This Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act (the Act) within the Department of Finance Canada is prepared and submitted in accordance with section 72 of the Act and covers the period from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013 .

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The Act came into force on July 1, 1983. Its purpose is to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that such information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government. The Act is intended to complement existing procedures for access to government information—it is not intended to limit access to information that is normally available to the general public. Under the Act, Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or any person or corporation present in Canada have the right to request access to information contained in government records.

The Department recognizes that the right of access to information in records under its control is an essential element of our system of democracy. It is committed to openness and transparency, respecting both the spirit and the requirements of the Act, its Regulations and related policy instruments.

The Department further acknowledges the importance of facilitating access to records by requiring that its employees make every reasonable effort to assist applicants.

History of the Department of Finance Canada

In 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion, comprising New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. The first Minister of Finance, Alexander Galt, had previously served in the same capacity for the Province of Canada (made up of parts of present-day Ontario, Quebec and Labrador).

The Department of Finance was one of the original departments of the Government of Canada. Others included Agriculture, the Penitentiary Service, Public Works, Post Office, Secretary of State, and the Privy Council Office. Originally, the Department of Finance's primary functions were bookkeeping, administering the collection and disbursement of public monies, and servicing the national debt. The total number of officers, clerks, and messengers in the Department in 1867 was twenty-eight.

In June 1869, John Rose, who succeeded Alexander Galt as Finance Minister, introduced a statute spelling out the Department's duties, which were basically doing everything not assigned to any other department.

At various times since its establishment, the Department has done the work of the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, as well as taking charge of tax inspection and old age and public service pensions.

During World War I, the federal government borrowed from, and taxed, individual Canadians directly for the first time, through Victory Loans and income tax, which was introduced in 1917.

In the early 1930s the Government transferred detailed operational and program responsibilities to other departments or agencies, so the Department of Finance could concentrate on essential analytical and policy work.

In 1939, departmental officials developed a new approach to the federal budget. Instead of simply attempting to balance expenditures with revenues, they began to use taxing powers and spending policies to influence economic development in general.

During World War II, Canadian GNP doubled and annual federal spending increased to 10 times that of the 1939 figure, significantly increasing the influence of the department. Much of that influence was exercised through its budgets.

Canada's first Budget, tabled on December 7, 1867, showed $7.4 million in receipts and $5.3 million in expenditures. The shortest interval between Budgets was four months (June 18, 1971 to October 14, 1971). The longest was 16 months (February 25, 1937 to June 16, 1938).

In the early years, the Budget consisted simply of a speech by the Finance Minister in the House of Commons, which was recorded by hand in Hansard. Newspaper reporters sitting in the Press Gallery made notes on the speech, from which they wrote their stories. The Department did not provide the media with special Budget documentation or briefings. By the 1960s, copies of the Budget speech were produced on an ink-fed duplicating machine and collated by hand in the Minister's office. This document was given to reporters as the Minister began his speech.

The Department Today

Today, the Department helps the Government of Canada develop and implement strong and sustainable economic, fiscal, tax, social, security, international and financial sector policies and programs. It plays an important central agency role, working with other departments to ensure that the government’s agenda is carried out ad that ministers are supported with high-quality analysis and advice. And it does so as one of the Government of Canada's smallest departments, with fewer than 1,000 people working in its ten branches:

Economic and Fiscal Policy

Economic Development and Corporate Finance

Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy

Financial Sector Policy

International Trade and Finance

Tax Policy

Law

Corporate Services

Consultations and Communications

Internal Audit and Evaluation

The Department’s responsibilities include:

Preparing the federal Budget and the Update of Economic and Fiscal Projections;

Preparing the Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada and, in cooperation with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Receiver General for Canada, the Public Accounts of Canada;

Developing tax and tariff policy and legislation;

Managing federal borrowing on financial markets;

Designing and administering major transfers of federal funds to the provinces and territories;

Developing financial sector policy and legislation; and

Representing Canada in various international financial institutions and groups.

Mandate of the Department of Finance Canada

The Department of Finance Canada is established under section 14 of the Financial Administration Act. Under section 15 of that Act, The Minister of Finance “has the management and direction of the Department, the management of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the supervision, control and direction of all matters relating to the financial affairs of Canada not by law assigned to the Treasury Board or to any other minister.” Certain other authorities have been entrusted to the Minister of Finance through various Acts of Parliament, including the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Canada Business Corporations Act, and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.

The Department of Finance Canada contributes to a strong economy and sound public finances for Canadians. It does so by monitoring developments in Canada and around the world to provide first-rate analysis and advice to the Government of Canada and by developing and implementing fiscal and economic policies that support the economic and social goals of Canada and its people. The Department also plays a central role in ensuring that government spending is focused on results and delivers value for taxpayer dollars. The Department interacts extensively with other federal organizations and acts as an effective conduit for the views of participants in the economy from all parts of Canada.

The Department’s most visible output is the federal budget. The budget speech provides an authoritative review of past, present, and future economic factors that will affect Canada’s economic performance and finances. The budget reviews government accounts for the past period and presents its fiscal projections for the coming years including the government’s expenditure program, revenues from existing sources, taxation changes, and debt levels.

Strategic Outcome

The Department of Finance Canada provides effective economic leadership with a clear focus in 2012‑2013 on one strategic outcome, which expressed a long-term and enduring benefit for Canadians:

A strong and economy and sound public finances for Canadians

The Department has four program activities, which each contain a varying number of program subactivities. The four program activities are Economic and Fiscal Policy Framework, Transfer and Taxation Payment Programs, Treasury and Financial Affairs, and Internal Services.

The Economic and Fiscal Policy Framework program activity is the primary source of advice and recommendations to the Minister of Finance on issues, policies and programs of the Government of Canada in the areas of economic, fiscal and social policy; federal-provincial relations; financial affairs; taxation; and international trade and finance.

The Transfer and Taxation Payment Programs program activity supports provinces and territories with funding for health, social programs and other shared priorities. Through transfer payments, this program activity enables less prosperous provincial governments to provide their residents with public services that are reasonably comparable to those in other provinces, at reasonably comparable levels of taxation, and provides territorial governments with funding to support public services, in recognition of the higher cost of providing programs and services in the North. This program activity also includes the collection and remittance of provincial, territorial and Aboriginal taxes under tax collection and administration agreements.

The Treasury and Financial Affairs program activity manages debt operations and other financial operations of the Government of Canada.

The Internal Services program activity includes a number of functions and resources that support the Department as a whole in achieving its strategic outcome.

Administration of the Access to Information Act

Access to Information and Privacy Division

The Access to Information and Privacy Division (ATIP) is part of the Law Branch and is responsible for administering theAccess to Information Act for the Department of Finance Canada. As a centralized operation, the ATIP Division coordinates the timely processing of requests under the legislation, conducts interdepartmental consultations, handles complaints lodged with the Information Commissioner, and responds to informal inquiries. Division staff also provide advice and guidance to departmental officials on matters involving the Act. The ATIP Division comprises a director, two team leaders, eight full-time ATIP analysts and two administrative assistants.

Principles on Assistance to Applicants

With the passing of the Federal Accountability Act, section 4(2.1) was added to the Access to InformationAct:

“The head of a government institution shall, without regard to the identity of a person making a request for access to a record under the control of the institution, make every reasonable effort to assist the person in connection with the request, respond to the request accurately and completely and, subject to the regulations, provide timely access to the record in the format requested.”

The Department of Finance is committed to both the spirit and intent of these principles, and adheres to the Act and to the Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act with respect to their application when processing requests under the Act.

Educational and training activities

This year, the ATIP Division participated in two Orientation Sessions. These are provided to employees who are new to the Department as a means to introduce them to the activities of each Branch. ATIP provided information about the ATIP Division, the Act, and information management practices to 47 new employees

The ATIP Division participated in one Management 101 course intended to provide junior managers with specific information to be taken into consideration by managers on a wide variety of subjects. ATIP’s presentation addressed the following subjects:

the administration of the Act as a “shared responsibility”

management support for activities related to access to information

the Act and the Management Accountability Framework process

departmental responsibilities with respect to Info Source

Treasury Board Secretariat’s role

the role of the Information Commissioner

The presentation was very well received by the 20 attendees and the positive feedback exceeded ATIP’s expectations. This year the Department’s Learning and Development team helped ATIP enormously in providing monthly ATIP training sessions to departmental employees. In the early spring, a training schedule was posted on the intranet site which outlined all of the sessions to be given in 2012-13. To ease the administrative burden on ATIP, the Learning and Development team handled registration and compiled attendee numbers to ensure accurate reporting in ATIP’s annual report to Parliament. This reporting year, a total of 106 employees attended sessions given on:

an overview of the Access to Information Act;

“Openness, Transparency, and Discretion”, and;

Sections 13 to 15, 18, 20, 21, 68 and 69 (the provisions most used by the Department of Finance).

Ad hoc training was also provided as needed to individuals throughout the Department.

Institutional changes to the administration of the Access to Information Act

There were no substantial changes to the administration of the Act within the Department. However, the 2007 “Guidelines for Branch Review” were updated on the Department’s intranet, and a section on “Roles and Responsibilities” was added. The intranet branch fees guideline were also updated. Finally, formal procedures were created to send ATIP files to Central Records in order to ensure tighter control of those files.

Delegation of authority

The delegation of authority that was approved on March 31, 2008, remained in effect throughout the reporting period. Depending on the nature of the information requested and its sensitivity, the authority to approve or deny the release of departmental information requested under the Act is shared by the Deputy Minister, the Associate Deputy Minister and G7 Deputy for Canada, the Associate Deputy Minister, the Assistant Deputy Minister and Counsel to the Department, and the Access to Information and Privacy Director. Generally, the ATIP Director approves all exemptions.

To transfer to another institution or to accept transfer from another institution and to give notice to applicant

8(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To extend time limit and give notice

9

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

No records exist

10

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To require payment of additional fees

11(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To require payment for machine readable record

11(3)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To require payment of a deposit

11(4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To give notice of amount required

11(5)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To waive the requirement to pay a fee

11(6)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To determine whether a record should be translated

12(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To determine whether a record should be provided in an alternative format

12(3)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

13

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

14

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

15

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

16

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

16.5

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

17

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

18

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

18.1

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

19

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that subsection

20(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To disclose part of a record referred to
in that subsection

20(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To disclose part of a record referred to in that subsection and provide written explanation

20(3)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To disclose, with the consent of third party, a record referred to in subsection 20(1)

20(5)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To disclose, in the public interest, a record referred to in paragraphs 20(1)(b),(c) or (d)

20(6)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that subsection

21(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

22

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

22.1

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

23

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

24

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To disclose information that can reasonably be severed

25

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To refuse to disclose a record referred to
in that section

26

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To give to third party notice of intent to disclose

27(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To extend time limit set out in 27(1)

27(4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To decide on disclosure after third party representation and to give notice of decision to third party

28(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To waive requirement for written representations

28(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To give access unless review of decision is requested

28(4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

To give notice to applicant and to third party

29(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To advise the Information Commissioner of any third party who received notification or, if the document had been disclosed, would have received notification

33

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To make representations to the Information Commissioner

35(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To give notice to the Information Commissioner that access to a record will be given

37(4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To give notice to a third party of application for Court review

43(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To give notice to applicant that third party has applied for Court review

44(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To request hearing in the National Capital Region

52(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To request opportunity to make representations ex parte

52(3)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To provide facilities where manuals may be inspected by public

71(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To exempt information from manuals

71(2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To prepare annual report for submission to Parliament

72(1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

To carry out responsibilities conferred on the Head of the institution by regulations made under section 77 which are not included above

77

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Reading room

The reading room, located in the Department’s library, is available to individuals who wish to view the records released by the Department in response to their access requests. This facility contains current volumes ofInfo Source, previous annual reports to Parliament, and A ccess to I nformation R equest F orms.

Interpretation of the Statistical Report

Part 1 – Requests under the Access to Information Act

Number of requests

The number of formal requests received in this reporting period was 495, a 65.55% increase from 299 formal requests received the previous reporting year.
The total number of requests considered was 565 as 70 requests remained outstanding from 2011-12. By the end of 2012-13, 458 requests were completed. One hundred and seven were carried forward to 2013-14.

In 2011-2012 the Department received 155 informal requests, a number which jumped enormously this reporting year to 242, an increase of 50.3%. The vast majority of informal requests came from members of the media, followed by the business community and members of the public.

In 2011–2012, the Department received 270 consultations from other federal government institutions on matters of interest to the Department, a number which dropped by nine this reporting year to 261. By the end of 2012-2013, 270 consultations were completed with 10 carried forward to 2013-2014.

When combining formal Access to Information Act requests, Privacy Act requests, informal requests, and consultations received from other government institutions, in 2010-2011 the ATIP Division’s overall caseload was 535 files. In 2011-12, the overall caseload was 737 files, an increase of 202 files, or 37.75%. At the end of 2012-13, the overall caseload was 1,003 files, an 87.47% increase over 2010-11, and a 36.09% increase from 2011-12.

Despite this increase, the Department’s on-time response rate to formal Access to Information Act requests was 92.3%, an improvement over last year’s rate of 91.5%. With respect to consultations, the on-time response rate for 2011-2012 was 93.4%. This dropped slightly this year to 91.9%.

Sources of requests

The greatest changes seen this reporting year were in the numbers of requests received from media, business, and the public as shown below:

Sources of Requests

Source

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Media

144

103

218

Academia

7

1

11

Business

15

138

114

Organization

2

22

103

Public

201

35

49

Part 2 – Requests closed during the reporting period

Disposition of requests

The following table indicates the disposition of the 458 requests completed during this reporting period:

Disposition
of Requests

Diposition

Number of Requests

Percentage of Requests

All disclosed

56

12.23 %

Disclosed in part

278

60.70 %

All exempted

2

0 .44 %

All excluded

3

0.65 %

No records exist

96

20.96%

Request transferred

1

0.22 %

Request abandoned

20

4.36 %

Treated informally

2

0 .44 %

Total

458

100.00 %

This year, the ATIP Division compared the disposition of requests completed in 2012-13 to the disposition of those completed in 2011-2012 .

Disposition
of Requests

Disposition

2011-2012

2012-13

All disclosed

37

56

Disclosed in part

118

278

All exempted

4

2

All excluded

6

3

No records exist

103

96

Request transferred

3

1

Request abandoned

10

20

Treated informally

1

2

Completed

282

458

The changes in most of the categories were minimal—the largest change was in the number of requests in which records were disclosed in part; 278 this reporting year as compared to 118 in 2011-12. Given the increase in the overall number of requests closed this fiscal year, the change in that category is not unexpected.

Completion time

Of the 458 requests completed this fiscal, 423 (92.3%) were closed on time, an improvement over 2011-12’s 91.5% even though the Department received 65.55% more requests this year than last. Many requests could not be responded to on time due to outstanding consultations with other government institutions.

Of the 458 requests closed during the reporting period, 194 (42.35%) were completed within the first 30 days of the receipt of the request, 209 (45.63%) were completed within two to four months, 45 (9.82%) were completed within four to six months, and 10 (2.18%) took more than six months to complete. Requests requiring more than six months usually involved large numbers of documents that required extensive internal consultations, consultations with third parties and, often, consultations with other government institutions. Given the nature of the work done by the Department, consultations must be conducted with other federal government institutions on many of its ATIP files and completion time is consequently impacted by the amount of time required of the other institutions to respond to those consultations.

Exemptions invoked

During the period, the following exemptions were invoked:

Exemptions invoked

Section of the Act

Exemptions

Number of Files Where Applied

Section 13

Information obtained in confidence
from other governments

79

Section 14

Federal-provincial affairs

114

Section 15

International affairs and defence

51

Section 16

Law enforcement and investigations

103

Section 17

Safety of individuals

0

Section 18

Economic interests of Canada

193

Section 19

Personal information

196

Section 20

Third party information

133

Section 21

Operations of government

377

Section 22

Testing procedures, tests and audits

1

Section 23

Solicitor-client privilege

24

Section 24

Statutory prohibitions

17

Section 26

Information to be published

1

Exclusions cited

During this reporting period, the following exclusions applied:

Exclusions cited

Section of the Act

Exclusions

Number of Files Where Applied

Section 68

Published material

12

Section 69

Confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council

147

Format of information released

Records were provided to applicants in 334 cases, 225 of those (67.36%) in paper format and 109 (32.63%) on compact disc. No applicants asked to view the records as opposed to receiving a copy.

Complexity

Many of the requests processed by the Department in 2012-2013 involved complex issues raising the need to consult with other government institutions. The number of pages in a given file can also be a factor in the length of time it takes to complete a file. This year saw a number of files which contained more than 1,000 pages, with the largest comprising 5,283 pages.

Deemed refusals

Thirty-five requests were closed past the statutory deadline for various reasons including workload and consultations, both and external and internal. In 21 instances, extensions of the statutory time limit had been claimed but the files were nonetheless late, due mainly to consultations with other government institutions. In the remaining 14 instances, no extension of the statutory deadline was taken. Of the late responses, 16 (45.71%) were made within 15 days past the deadline, two (5.71%) within 16 to 30 days, seven (20.0%) within 31 to 60 days, five (14.28%) within 61 to 120 days, three (8.57%) within 121 to 180 days, one (2.85%) within 181 to 365 days, and one (2.85%) of more than 365 days.

Translations

No requests for translations were received.

Part 3 – Extensions

During the reporting period, 106 extensions were taken for the following reasons:

Extensions

Search/interference with government operations

99

Consultations required (section 69 and others)

126

Notification to third parties

71

In 71 cases, an extension of 30 days or less was required, 58 of which were invoked in order to consult with other federal government institutions, provincial government institutions and third parties. Extensions of 61 to 120 days were required in 80 cases, 73 of which were taken for consultations under paragraphs 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c).

Part 4 – Fees

There have been no changes to the departmental fee policy. The $5.00 application fee is normally charged and fees assessed at less than $25.00 are waived.

During this reporting year, $ 3,739.00 was collected in application and search fees. Application, search and reproduction fees in the amount of $954.00 were either waived or refunded in 22 cases.

Part 5 – Consultations

The Department received a total of 272 consultations from other government institutions and organizations this reporting year, carried over 20 from the previous fiscal year, and closed 277. A large number of those consultations were from the Privy Council Office as a result of its review of Cabinet confidences which were more than 20 years old. The on-time response rate to all consultations was 91.9%.

Of the 270 consultations from other government institutions which were closed this year, the department responded 222 (82.22%) in 30 days or less. Fourty (14.81%) were responded to in 31 to 60 days, and eight (2.96%) required 61 to 120 days to complete. No consultations took more than 120 days to complete. Of the seven consultations from other organizations, two required 16 to 30 days, three required 31 to 60 days and two required 61 to 180 days to complete.

Part 6 – Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

The Privy Council Office responded to 54 consultations in order to confirm documents as Cabinet confidences. In 39 of those cases (72.22%), the responses to the consultations were received after the deadline.

Part 7 – Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Costs incurred in the reporting period are calculated on the salaries of ATIP staff
and the administrative expenses associated with administration of the Act. Costs do not include salaries of other departmental personnel involved in processing requests. Administration of the Act cost the Department $961,289.00 this reporting year.

Complaints / Investigations

There were 16 complaints lodged against the Department with respect to 14 of the files completed during the report ing period. Five complaints were classified as “refusal-general”, six concerned the exemption of information, two concerned the exclusion of information under section 69 of the Act, two concerned extensions taken, and one was classified as “miscellaneous.

Twelve findings were rendered by the Office of the Information Commissioner this year: four complaints were concluded as “not well-founded”, four were concluded as “well-founded, resolved without recommendation”, and four were “discontinued” by the complainant.

None of the Information Commissioner’s investigations raised any specific issues or concerns with respect to the Department’s handling of these requests and no action was required of the Department.

Appeals to the Federal Court of Canada

No appeals to the Federal Court were made in this reporting period.

Informal Requests

In fiscal year 2010-2011, the Department of Finance Canada received 20 informal requests for copies of records released in other requests. As a direct result of posting completed requests on the departmental website, that number increased in 2011-2012 to 155, and again in 2012-13 to 264.

Annex A

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Department of Finance Canada
Reporting period: April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline

Twenty-four requests were closed past the statutory deadline. Workload was the cause in 5 cases, external consultations were the cause in 10 cases, internal consultations were the cause in 4 cases, and 4 cases were late for other reasons.

2.6.2 Number of days past deadline

1 to 15 days:

10 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 6 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 16 requests.

16 to 30 days:

0 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 2 past deadline where extention taken, for a total of 2 requests.

31 to 60 days:

4 request past deadline where no extension taken and 3 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 7 requests.

61 to 120 days:

0 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 5 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 5 requests.

121 to 180 days:

0 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 3 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 3 requests.

181 to 365 days:

0 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 1 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 1 requests.

More than 365 days:

0 requests past deadline where no extension taken and 1 past deadline where extension taken, for a total of 1 requests.

2.7 Requests for translation

No translations from English to French were received. No translations from French to English were received.

PART 3 – Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

All disclosed:

16 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a); 1 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 4 taken under 9(1)(b) for a reason other than for confirmation of section 69; 16 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

Disclosed in part:

80 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a); 29 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 83 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 54 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

All exempted:

0 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a), 0 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 1 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 0 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

All excluded:

0 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a), 2 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 2 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 0 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

No records exist:

2 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a), 1 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 0 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 1 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

Request abandoned:

1 extensions taken under sections 9(1)(a), 1 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 2 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 0 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

3.2 Length of extensions

30 days or less:

13 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a); 0 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 29 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 29 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

31 to 60 days:

78 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a); 0 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 26 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; 40 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

61 to 120 days:

0 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a); 11 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 36 taken under 9(1)(b)for reasons other than for confirmation of section 69; 1 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

121 to 180 days:

1 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a); 0 taken under 9(1)(b) or 9(1)(c).

181 to 365 days:

0 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) or 9(1)(c).

More than 365 days:

0 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) or 9(1)(c).

Totals:

99 extensions taken under section 9(1)(a); 34 taken under 9(1)(b) for confirmation of section 69; 92 taken under 9(1)(b) for other consultations; and 71 taken under 9(1)(c) for third party notice.

PART 4 – Fees

Application fees were collected in 480 cases for a total of $2,400.00. Application fees were waived in 15 requests for a total of $75.00.

Search fees were collected in 8 cases for a total of $1,339.00. Search fees were waived in 5 cases for a total of $862.

No fees were collected for production, programming, alternative format of records or reproduction.

Preparation fees were waived in 2 cases for a total of $17.

PART 5 – Consultations received from other institutions & organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other government institutions and organizations

During the reporting period, 261 consultations were received from other government institutions, which required the review of 7,023 pages. Eleven consultations were received from other organizations which required the review of 351 pages. Nineteen consultations from other government institutions were outstanding from the previous reporting period which required the review of 338 pages. One consultation from an organization was outstanding from the previous reporting period which required the review of 16 pages. In total this reporting period, 280 consultations from other government institutions were treated which required the review of 7,361 pages, as well as 12 from other organizations which involved 367 pages.

In total, 270 requests from other government institutions were closed which involved the review of 7,233 pages, as well as seven from other institutions involving 315 pages. At the end of the reporting period, 10 consultations from other government institutions were pending which involved 128 pages. Five consultations were pending from other organizations which involved 52 pages.

5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government institutions

Disclose entirely:

1 to 15 days:

54

16 to 30 days:

71

31 to 60 days:

13

61 to 120 days:

2

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

0

Total:

140

Disclose in part:

1 to 15 days:

20

16 to 30 days

70

31 to 60 days:

25

61 to 120 days:

6

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

0

Total:

121

Exempt entirely:

1 to 15 days:

3

16 to 30 days:

2

31 to 60 days:

1

61 to 120 days:

0

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

6

Exclude entirely:

1 to 15 days:

2

16 to 30 days:

0

31 to 60 days:

1

61 to 120 days:

0

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

0

Total:

3

Consult:

1 to 15 days:

0

16 to 30 days:

0

31 to 60 days:

0

61 to 120 days:

0

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

0

Total:

0

Other:

1 to 15 days:

0

16 to 30 days:

0

31 to 60 days:

0

61 to 120 days:

0

121 to 180 days:

0

181 to 365 days:

0

More than 365 days:

0

Total:

0

5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Seven consultation requests were received from other organizations. One recommendation was to exempt the information in its entirety, and the request was completed in 31 to 60 days. Five recommendations were to partially exempt the information: two were completed in 16 to 30 days, one was completed in 31 to 60 days, one was completed in 61 to 120 days, and one was completed in 121 to 180 days. One recommendation was to consult with another institution, and the request was completed in 31 to 60 days.

PART 6 – Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

1 to 15 days:

12 requests made, 0 response received past deadline

16 to 30 days:

3 requests made, 0 response received past deadline

31 to 60 days:

8 requests made, 8 responses received past deadline

61 to 120 days:

10 requests made, 10 responses received past deadline

121 to 180 days:

8 requests made, 8 responses received past deadline

181 to 365 days:

11 request made, 11 response received past deadline

More than 365 days:

2 request made, 2 response received past deadline

PART 7 – Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Salaries:

$914,074.00

Overtime:

$.00

Goods and services:

$47,215.00

Total:

$961,289.00

Other reports

In 2012-13, the department received 264 informal requests, all of which were as a direct result of posting summaries of closed requests on the website.