The Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising
Activities of the Canadian Government (the Gomery Commission) has provided
unprecedented firsthand evidence about the way in which politically
sensitive information requests are handled within Canada's federal
government.
Readers interested in learning more about the routines used by the
ministry at the centre of the controversy -- the Department of Public Works and
Government Services -- should read the November 23 testimony of Anita
Lloyd,the Department's Coordinator of Access and Privacy.
The November 23 testimony can be downloaded from:
www.gomery.ca/en/transcripts/
During her testimony, Mrs. Lloyd referred to three flowcharts used by the
department to manage requests: one for "routine" requests; one for
"Interesting No Media Lines" requests; and one for "Interesting Media
Lines" requests. The Gomery Commission has provided me with the flowcharts, and
they are now posted on my website at:
www.foi.net(Look under the "Canada" header.)
The procedures described in the flowcharts are not unique to the
Department of Public Works and Government Services, as Ann Rees explained in a series
for the Toronto Star last year: http://tinyurl.com/6huzf
I also measure the impact of these procedures in a paper forthcoming in
the journal Public Administration, "Spin Control and Freedom of Information":
http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/asroberts/research.html
Regards, Alasdair.
--
Alasdair Roberts
Associate Professor of Public Administration
Director, Campbell Public Affairs Institute
The Maxwell School of Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York USA 13244
Phone (315) 345-1216 Fax (253) 541-9867
www.aroberts.us
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