Various strategies for advancing access to information were discussed during one session Oct. 4 at the 7th International Conference on Information Commissioners in Ottawa.
The list of ideas for nongovernmental groups to use was offered along and the utility of various human rights arguments to obtain information also was explored.
Nathalie Des Rosier, general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, laid out strategies for nongovernmental organizations to use to advocate for more access to information.
Using rewards, including awards, should be one strategy, she said. Education should used, too, she said, suggesting integrating lessons about access to information in secondary school civics curriculums.
Creating champions — people who are persistent in their information demands, are successful and celebrate their success –is yet another strategy, she said.
“Shame,” the use of report cards, also has value, according to Des Rosier, who commented that “at some points we have to name people who have failed to exercise proper leadership” on access to information. Discipline is necessary, she said. Breaches of law “should be labeled and treated as such,” adding, “So I hope someday somebody gets fired for redacting too much.”
She said the Canadian access to information regime is “timid.” She noted, “Sometimes I feel they are renting it out, it is so costly to obtain.” The electoral process is a “poor disciplinarian” of the access to information regime, she said.
She said there should an emphasis on getting quality information.
Experience has shown that the rules of discovery in using lawsuits are more amendable to getting information that making access to information requests, Des Rosier said.
Various Rights Promise Access to Information
Maeve McDonagh, a professor at the University College Cork (Ireland), reviewed the relevance of various “rights” with regard to getting information, referring to the right of expression and the right to participate in public affairs, among others
She cautioned that “stretching” such rights as tools for access to information may have some downsides, and should not negate efforts to install access to information as a core human right.
In her talk, McDonagh discussed ways in which access to information has been considered to be an integral part of rights to privacy, to a fair trial, to life, and to take part in public affairs.
Among other things, she noted that the right to information “is increasingly seen as a precondition” for the exercising the right of expression.
She noted that there are some shortcomings to using other rights as an avenue for accessing information, explaining that access rights in the context of the right to take part in public affairs and right to freedom of expression may be made contingent on the type of requester and the type of information.
“I believe we need recognition of the fundamental right to information,” she stated.
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