This talk is part of the ALLways Learning Series, which invites ALL members and members of our local community to join us for a free, casual lecture each Friday during the academic year (formerly Lunchtime Learning Series).

Abstract: Louis Brandeis, later a US Supreme Court judge, wrote over a century ago, in 1913: “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” The right to access information held by public authorities, or access to information (ATI), has been heralded as a key underpinning of democracy and tool to deliver a range of important social values, including combatting corruption. Despite that today, with ATI laws in place in all 14 Canadian jurisdictions, few users are likely to hold quite such a positive outlook on these systems. Still, with over 200,000 requests for information lodged annually with federal agencies, at a cost of $5 apiece, something must be working.

This ALLways Learning discussion will explore the strengths and weaknesses of Canada’s ATI systems. It will, among other things, look at the legal frameworks in Canada, the bureaucratic culture driving how these laws are implemented, and the wider social values and expectations in which our ATI systems operate. It will focus on assessing these issues from the perspective of international and comparative national standards and practices. And it will be based on Toby’s extensive work on ATI globally, dating back nearly 30 years and including the Centre for Law and Democracy’s significant focus on this issue.