Info watchdog: Flagging access requests can cause unfair delays - THE CANADIAN PRESS

September 3, 2008

Info watchdog: Flagging access requests can cause unfair delays

By John Ward, THE CANADIAN PRESS

 
 

OTTAWA - The practice in some government agencies of flagging potentially embarrassing access to information requests as "sensitive" can lead to unfair delays in releasing information, says Information Commissioner Robert Marleau.

Marleau has extracted a promise from government institutions that they will speed up the handling of such requests.

The ruling, which followed a three-year investigation, partly upholds a complaint from the Canadian Newspaper Association.

The association claimed that secret government rules classed certain access requests as "sensitive" or "of interest" or "amber light" and caused unjustifiable delays in getting information. The group also said the practice was principally aimed at journalists.

Full Article: <http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2008/09/03/pf-6649631.html>