Access to Information and Privacy - Annual Report 2002/2003

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (Revised Statutes of Canada, Chapter A-1, 1985) were proclaimed on July 1, 1983.

The Access to Information Act gives Canadian citizens and individuals present in Canada a broad right of access to information contained in government records subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

The Privacy Act extends to individuals the right of access to information about themselves held by the government, again subject to specific and limited exceptions. The law also protects the individual's privacy by preventing others from having access to personal information and gives individuals substantial control over its collection and use.

Section 72 of the Access to Information Act and Section 72 of the Privacy Act require that the head of every government institution shall prepare for submission to Parliament an annual report on the administration of the Acts within the institution during each fiscal year.

These Annual Reports provide a summary of the management and administration of the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Acts within Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) for the fiscal year 2001-2002.

Additional Copies

Additional copies of these reports can be obtained by contacting :

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Place du Portage, Phase III, 5C1
11 Laurier Street
Hull, Quebec
K1A 0S5

Telephone: (819) 956-1820
Fax: (819) 994-2119

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) was created in 1993 through the amalgamation of former Public Works Canada (PWC), Supply and Services Canada (SSC), Government Telecommunications Agency, and the Translation Bureau (Secretary of State of Canada).

PWGSC is the major provider of central and common services to the Government of Canada. During the fiscal year, these common services are provided through five business-line branches:

Two significant changes in the structure of PWGSC took place during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. First, on September 1, 2001, the Communications Coordination Services Branch, which previously had formed one of the business-line branches of PWGSC, merged with the Canada Information Office to become a part of Communications Canada.

Second, on January 15, 2002, the Corporate Implementation Group, which reported to the Deputy Minister and provided Portfolio Management support for the Crown Corporations within the Minister's portfolio, became a part of the new Office of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations Canada.

The ATIP Office administers the provisions of the Access to Information Act for PWGSC, including two Special Operating Agencies namely the Translation Bureau and Consulting and Audit Canada.

The ATIP Office has five teams intended to centralize functional activities. Teams were divided into the following groups: privacy, policy and government-on-line; Maritime Helicopter Project; administration; sponsorship; and, training and special projects team.

Under Section 3 of the Access to Information Act, the Minister of the Department is designated as the head of the government institution for the purposes of the administration of the Act.

The delegation instrument continued to be based on a centralized process with the ATIP Coordinator responsible for full delegation of the Access to Information Act.

The ATIP Coordinator reports directly to the Director General of Executive Secretariat, who, in turn, reports to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Government Operational Service Branch.

The administration of the legislation by the ATIP Office is also facilitated at the branch and regional office levels. Each organizational sector has an ATIP Liaison Officer (normally reporting to an Assistant Deputy Minister or a Regional Director General) who coordinates activities and provides guidance on the operation of the Act, departmental directives and procedures.

Departmental Policy #2 sets out the ATI delegation of authority order, definitions, and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders within PWGSC. The policy was under revision during the fiscal year.

The ATIP Liaison Officers' Handbook is produced by the ATIP Office and used as a guide to:

To standardize the work procedures used by office staff, facilitate the training of new staff and complement the processes of the electronic ATIP tracking system (ATIPflow), the ATIP Office initiated the development of a desk Procedures manual.

Given the complex character of the Access to Information Act and the need to balance the Public's right to access information with the need to protect the legitimate interests of other parties, the ATIP Office provides guidance as well as information sessions, on an as required basis, to the department. Overall, 18 information sessions were delivered to over 425 departmental managers and employees.

In May, as a guest speaker at the 12th annual workshop of the Material Management Institute held at the Ottawa Congress Centre, the ATIP Coordinator delivered a presentation on the trends in Access to Information. Among the 100 participants were members of the public, media, business community and government employees.

In November, eight joint information sessions were delivered, in partnership with the Records Management and Information Holdings Section, at four locations in the Atlantic Region, reaching approximately 175 individuals. These sessions were designed to raise employee awareness of the implications of the legislative amendment to section 67.1 of the Act, on their activities and also to remind them of their roles and responsibilities under the Act.

In partnership with Corporate Security, the ATIP Office delivered one joint information session to officials of the Audit and Ethics branch.

Eight specially tailored Access to Information presentations were delivered by the ATIP Office to over 200 individuals for the Departmental Management Orientation Course and the Claims Prevention and Management Unit of the Real Property Services Branch.

New senior management and Ministerial exempt staff were briefed on their roles and responsibilities under the Acts. Additional briefings were conducted on an as required basis.

Throughout the fiscal year, briefings were also given to all new ATIP Liaison Officers at the commencement of their duties. One briefing was given to the Ethics Development Office of the Audit and Ethics Branch.

ATIPflow, an electronic ATIP tracking system, created by MPRSYS Inc. renamed PRIVASOFT, was introduced into PWGSC in October 2000 as a means of better organizing the flow of work, efficiently creating standard letters and improving the quality of management reports. The 2001-2002 fiscal year marked the first full fiscal year that ATIPflow has been in use in the ATIP Office.

The posting of contracting statisticsand other contracting information on the Internet has been providing the Public direct access to information relative to contracts awarded by PWGSC on behalf of other government departments and agencies since April 1, 1997. The Internet address for this site is http://www.contractscanada.gc.ca./en/index.html.

The ATIP Credit/Debit Card System, upgraded during the 2000-2001 fiscal year, offers an increase in value-added service to the Public to facilitate the payment of fees by credit cards or debit cards. The system accepts payment by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners/Enroute and Interac.

ATIP staff regularly review procedures and processes to improve the provision of information to the Public, both on a formal and informal basis. These efforts will continue throughout fiscal year 2002-2003.

PWGSC managers and employees, including ATIP Office staff, participated in several discussion groups organized by the Access to Information Review Task Force during its consultative process. The Task Force was conducting an administrative and legislative review of the Access to Information Act and Regulations to make recommendations for immediate and longer term changes. The Task Force is expected to submit their final report in the next fiscal year.

All formal access requests are forwarded to the ATIP Office where they are reviewed for clarity and processed for conformity with the legislation. Each request is then assigned to an organizational sector of the department, which becomes responsible for locating and retrieving the records containing the information sought, and assisting in determining the costs and fees for processing the request.

After a review of the relevant records, the organizational sector is responsible for formulating recommendations on the disclosure of the information. Before a final decision is reached, they are evaluated by the ATIP Office and any necessary consultations with other organizations are undertaken. This review process is intended to ensure consistency in the treatment of Access to Information Act requests.

Once a decision has been rendered, the ATIP Office notifies the requester and arranges to provide access to all of the records that can be disclosed.

Table I provides an overview of the trends and volume of access requests received and processed by PWGSC, by type of originator, over the past three years.

Type of Originator	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-2002
Public	113	161	208
Media	87	93	99
Business	469	330	377
Academic	2	4	15
Other Organizations	66	141	64
Total Requests Received	737	729	763

In 2001-2002, the business community continued to be the largest user of the Act, accounting for 49 percent of the total requests received by PWGSC. The second largest source of requests were from members of the Public (27 percent) representing an increase of 29 percent over the previous fiscal year. Requests from the media accounted for 13 percent of the requests received while academic and other organizations comprised the remaining 11 percent of requests received.

PWGSC is the recipient of considerable amount of commercial, technical and financial third party information and, as in past years, most of the requests received were for records containing third party information. While most third party information is of a sensitive nature, PWGSC has endeavoured to release as much information as possible, consistent with the spirit of the Act and the severability provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

Of the 964 requests processed during this reporting period, 763 requests (79 percent) were new requests, while 201 requests (21 percent) were carried forward from the previous year. Table II
provides the related detail.

Improvement was shown in completing the processing of outstanding requests. Only 19 percent of requests were carried over into the 2002-2003 fiscal year versus 21 percent that were carried over in the previous year.

The majority of requests received by the ATIP Office continue to be related to the contracting services provided by PWGSC in the domain of supply related records (i.e. business volumes, contracts for goods and services). The Supply Operation Service Branch of PWGSC continues to be the chief recipient of these type of requests.

A significant volume of requests were received pertaining to the Maritime Helicopter Project, the Canadian Search and Rescue Helicopter Project, the Government Sponsorship Program and records relative to real property (i.e. leasing, construction, fit-ups, restorations and maintenance contracts).

Table III outlines the contributions made by each Branch and Region of PWGSC with regard to the frequency with which it was charged with reviewing and retrieving information relevant to ATI requests.

In addition to the large volume of requests received by PWGSC, the department was consulted by other government institutions in 186 different cases. The aforementioned 186 consultation requests are not reflected in the annual reports' statistical tables but account for an increasing portion (16 percent) of the ATIP Office's total caseload. Table IV outlines the five departments that consulted PWGSC most frequently in 2001-2002.

Although not reflected in the annual reports' statistical tables, the ATIP Office also received 61 requests to review information on an informal basis from various branches within PWGSC. In general, these informal reviews relate to personnel related reports and internal audit reports.

3.3 Disposition of Completed Requests

Of the 964 requests dealt with, 780 requests (81 percent ) were completed during the 2001-2002 reporting period. As a result, 184 requests (19 percent) had to be carried over to the next fiscal year.

Of the 780 cases where the department was able to complete the request, information was released either in whole or in part in 540 requests (69 percent)

3.3.1 All Disclosed

In 182 of the 780 (23 percent) completed cases , the requesters were provided with total access to the relevant records.

3.3.2 Disclosed in Part

In an additional 358 of the 780 (46 percent) completed cases, PWGSC granted the requesters partial access. In most instances, the information withheld related to third party information.

3.3.3 Nothing Disclosed (All Exempted; All Excluded)

In 25 of the 780 (3 percent) completed requests, there was no information released.

Of the 780 requests completed, 41 concerned records not under the control of the Department. After initial processing, these requests were transferred to the appropriate government institution in accordance with Section 8 of the Act.

After initial review, the department was unable to process 86 requests. In most instances, this was because the department did not have any records which related to the request.

Of the completed access requests, 85 were eventually considered to be abandoned. Such an action may occur at any stage of request processing.

In 3 of the completed cases, it was determined that the information could be released informally rather than through the formal procedures of the Act.

With the exception of section 17, as noted in Annex A, the department invoked exemptions under all sections of the Act.

Annex A is intended to show the types of exemptions invoked to deny access. For example, if in one request 5 different exemptions were used, one exemption under each relevant section would be reported for a total of 5 exemptions. If the same exemption is used several times for the same request, it is reported only once.

There remained several instances where PWGSC was prohibited from disclosing information. Subsection 19(1) and Paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act account for the great majority of the exemptions claimed by the department.

The Act does not apply to records considered to be confidences of the Queen's Privy Council pursuant to Section 69 of the Act. As in the case of exemptions, Annex A is intended to show the types of exclusions invoked to deny access. For example, if in one request five different exclusions are cited, one exclusion under each relevant section would be reported for a total of five. If the same exclusion is used several times for the same request, it is reported only once.

In 2001-2002, exclusions were applied pursuant to sections 68 and 69 of the Act on 57 (7 percent) of the total number of requests completed.

Despite the complexity of requests, the steady volume of access requests and increasing volume of consultations received, 359 formal requests were completed within the initial 30 day period, an increase of 20 percent when compared with the 2000-2001 fiscal year when 299 requests were completed within the initial 30 day period.

The nature and source of information requested generally required extensive consultations and negotiations with third parties and other government institutions. In 333 of the requests processed (35 percent), PWGSC was obliged under the legislation to extend the time limits pursuant to paragraphs 9(1)(b) and (c) of the Act in order to conduct such consultations.

In addition, extensions were undertaken in 44 of the requests processed (5 percent) pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Act. As in 2000-2001, PWGSC continued to improve its performance in claiming legal time extensions permitted under the Act.

There were no requests for the translation of information from one official language to another.

The method by which requesters prefer to obtain access to information continues to be in the form of copies of documents.

Of all requests in which information was released, the requesters received copies of the information they were seeking in 453 cases (84 percent). In 32 cases (5 percent) access was provided by a combination of copies and in-person examination and, in 17 cases (2 percent) access was provided solely through in-person examination. It should be noted that the data in this section reflect only those requests in which information was disclosed either in part or in its entirety.

Although not reported in Annex A, the information was provided either on diskette or via e-mail to the requester in 38 cases (7 percent).

The Access to Information Act authorizes fees for certain activities related to the processing of formal requests under the Act. In addition to the $5 application fee, search, preparation and reproduction charges may apply to various records. Current fees are specified in the Access to Information Regulations.

No fees are imposed for reviewing records or for overhead or shipping. Moreover, in accordance with Section 11 of the Act, no fees are charged for the first 5 hours required to search for a record or prepare any part of it for disclosure.

There was, however, a decrease in the amount of the fees reported for reproduction purposes and in the relation to the record searches. PWGSC waived fees for 56 percent of the requests received, representing a 2 percent decrease in the value of fees waived since the last fiscal year.

The fees collected during the reporting period totaled $12,380.12, while the fees waived were $7,177.50. Fees collected this reporting year are estimated to represent 1 percent of the total cost of the Access to Information program.

Total salary costs associated with the Access to Information Act activities are estimated at $977,500 (90.3 percent of the ATIP Office budget) for 2001-2002. Operations and maintenance costs, including consulting services, amount to $255,220 for a total of $1,232,720. The associated full-time equivalent resources utilized are estimated at 19.5 for 2001-2002.

Due to budgetary restrictions, the number of employee positions in the ATIP Office decreased by five during the fiscal year.

To assist in maintaining its level of service and compliance with the provisions of the Act, the services of four professional ATIP consultants were hired for short-term assignments. A three year competitive contract was awarded to ARTAN Enterprises Ltd. in October 2001, allowing for more flexibility and continuity in hiring consultants, as required.

Table V provides the breakdown of complaints made to the Information Commissioner of Canada and of requests for judicial review made to the Federal Court of Canada, over the past 3 years.

The number of complaints filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada decreased from the previous fiscal year. A total of 15 out of the 61 complaints received (25 percent) related to delays in responding to requests, a decrease of 59 percent from the 2000-2001 fiscal year. Of the remainder, 36 complaints (59 percent) related to information withheld; 5 (8 percent) related to time extensions taken on requests, 1 concerned missing information; and 4 were for other reasons. Of the 61 complaints received, 7 were resolved to the satisfaction of the requester, 4 complaints were discontinued, 4 were not well founded or unsubstantiated, and 46 investigations were still ongoing at the end of the fiscal year.

It is of note that, of the 61 complaints filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada in 2001-2002, one individual accounted for 11 of the complaints (18 percent) filed against the department.

Five Access to Information requests resulted in applications for judicial review being registered with the Federal Court of Canada in fiscal year 2001-2002. Each application pertained to a review based on section 44 of the Act. There were seven requests for judicial review, initiated in previous fiscal years, which were still outstanding at the end of the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

One request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-1347-01) was filed by Aventis Pasteur Limited. Aventis Pasteur Limited objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose the single unit price concerning their contract for vaccines with the Department of National Defence. Aventis Pasteur Limited claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-727-01) was filed by EH Industries Limited. EH Industries Limited objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records pertaining to the contract for the Canadian Search and Rescue Helicopter Project for the Department of National Defence. EH Industries claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-1067-01) was filed by ADGA Group Consultants Limited. ADGA Group Consultants Limited objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose a part of their proposal for the provision of implementation support services. ADGA Group Consultants Limited claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-1409-01) was filed by The High-Rise Group Incorporated. The High-Rise Group Incorporated objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose a portion of their bid proposal for a new federal office building in the Hamilton, Ontario area. The High-Rise Group Incorporated claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-207-02) was filed by Shire Biochem Pharma Incorporated. Shire Biochem Pharma Incorporated objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose portions of their contract for vaccines. Shire Biochem Pharma Incorporated claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One 2000-2001 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-1755-00) was filed by Promaxis Systems Inc. Promaxis Systems Inc. objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records concerning their contract #W8466-5-REOA/01-BQ in which they were the successful bidder. Promaxis Systems Inc. claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

Two 2000-2001 requests for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-1265-00) were filed by Jean Chandioux Expert Conseil. Jean Chandioux Expert Conseil objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records concerning their contract, claiming that the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. Affidavits have been exchanged but no hearing date has been scheduled.

One 2000-2001 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-2342) was filed by GPEC International Ltd. GPEC International Ltd. objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records concerning their winning proposal for a Department of National Defence contract. GPEC International Ltd. claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. An agreement was reached by both parties to discontinue the litigation.

One 2000-2001 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-2337-00) was filed by Brookfield Lepage Johnson Controls. Brookfield Lepage Johnson Controls objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records concerning their contract. Brookfield Lepage Johnson Controls claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. A hearing date has been scheduled for February 19, 2003.

A 2000-2001 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number T-587-00) was filed by Siemens Canada Limited. Siemens Canada Limited objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records concerning information they provided to PWGSC as part of the solicitation process for a Department of National Defence contract as well as the documents related to their facility security clearance. Siemens' position was that all the information should be exempted pursuant to section 24 of the ATIA (re section 30 of the Defence Production Act (DPA)). The case was heard on October 24, 2001 and the decision was rendered on November 5, 2001. The Court accepted Siemens' argument and concluded that the information requested was obtained "under or by virtue" of the DPA and could not be released without the consent of Siemens. A Notice of Appeal was subsequently filed by PWGSC on December 5, 2001.

A 1999-2000 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number: T-1281-99), was filed by Stenotran Services Inc., pursuant to section 44 of the Act. Stenotran Services Inc. was the successful bidder on contract #4R001-9-1000/001/ZG. The company objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records pertaining to unit prices as well as any associated documentation of Stenotran Services Inc. It claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. The application was dismissed on the grounds that Stenotran did not prove that the information in dispute was confidential.

A 1997-1998 request for judicial review (Federal Court File Number: T-2785-97), was filed by the St. Joseph Corporation, pursuant to section 44 of the Act. The St. Joseph Corporation objected to PWGSC's decision to disclose part of the records pertaining to the sale and purchase of the Canada Communication Group. The company claimed the information qualified for exemption pursuant to paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c) of the Act. A decision rendered on March 12, 2002 allowed the application in part. Additional information is to be exempt from disclosure and the remainder of the requested records are to be disclosed as, in the Court's opinion, St. Joseph Corporation had failed to provide sufficient evidence to meet the legal test of exemption for disclosure under the Act. Although a Notice of Appeal was filed on April 10, 2002 by the St. Joseph Corporation, the Appellant subsequently filed a Notice of Discontinuance on June 28, 2002. PWGSC will therefore process this case as ordered in the Court's decision of March 12, 2002.

Section 71 of the Act requires government institutions to provide facilities where the Public may inspect manuals used by employees of the department in administering or carrying out programs or activities. Consequently, reading rooms are provided by PWGSC at headquarters and in all regional offices. In these locations, the Public can access departmental manuals, the Government of Canada's Info Source publication, request forms and general information on how to exercise its rights under the Act.

The ATIP Office administers the provisions of the Privacy Act for Public Works and Government Services Canada, including two Special Operating Agencies, namely the Translation Bureau and Consulting and Audit Canada.

Under Section 3 of the Privacy Act, the Minister of the department is designated as the head of the government institution for the purposes of the administration of the Act.

The delegation instrument continued to be based on a centralized process with the ATIP Coordinator responsible for full delegation with the exception of Paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act. The Director of the Cheque Redemption and Control Directorate in Matane, Quebec shares delegated authority under Paragraphs 8(2)(a), (c) and (e) of the Act in regard to releasing original cheques to law enforcement bodies. This provides administrative flexibility in processing requests for cheques.

Departmental Policy #2 sets out the Access to Information and Privacy delegation of authority order definitions and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders within PWGSC.

Departmental Policy #14 sets out the delegation of authority order, definitions and the roles and responsibility of employees with respect to the protection of personal and private information in the workplace.

The ATIP Coordinator reports directly to the Director General of Executive Secretariat who, in turn, reports to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Accounting, Banking and Compensation s Branch.

The department's ATIP Liaison Officer Handbook outlines the intent and requirements of the Privacy Act and Treasury Board guidelines regarding the collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposal of personal information so that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for the proper management of information holdings. In particular, staff are informed of their responsibilities to record and account for all uses and disclosures of personal information, by documenting all activities relating to personal information and by maintaining the relevant material on official departmental files. Responsibility centres are also advised to consult with the ATIP Office before collecting any personal information, as well as when there is any doubt concerning which rules to apply in the retention and disposal of personal information. The ATIP Liaison Handbook is currently being revised and the updated version is expected to be made available in the next fiscal year.

The ATIP Liaison Officers' Handbook is produced by the ATIP Office and used as a guide to:

The amount of time devoted by ATIP Office staff to privacy issues, including the provision of advice, substantially increased in this fiscal year.

The ATIP Office is represented on a departmental committee the PWGSC Network Use Working Group chaired by the Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services Branch where advice on the implications of the electronic collection, use and disclosure of personal information is provided on an "as required" basis.

The ATIP Office also participates on the Interdepartmental Privacy and PKI Registration Working Group.

In the next fiscal year, the ATIP Office will participate in other committees, as follows:

The new Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat policy on Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) was being developed during this fiscal year. The goal of PIA's is for government institutionsto identify whether a program or a service delivery initiative, involving the collection, use or disclosure of personal information as defined in the Privacy Act, complies with the current privacy principles and to avoid or mitigate any identifiable risks to privacy.

The ATIP Office was involved in several departmental initiatives, which will require the development of PIAs over the next fiscal year(s).

One initiative is associated with the Compensation Sector's project entitled "Employee Pension Benefits Statement and Pension Calculator." The purpose of the project is to provide an online version of the Employee Benefits Statement, integrated with a pension calculator, which will allow federal employees to calculate various retirement scenarios. Linked with this project is an initiative which would allow federal employees to calculate various options to buy back pensionable service.

Another initiative is the Compensation Sector's project entitled "Pay Stub on the Web." This initiative is intended to provide federal employees with electronic access to their current and previous years statements of remuneration.

A third project is entitled "Receiver General Buy Button." This endeavour is intended to provide a bridge, in the form of an Internet page between government departments and a third party service provider to allow credit card payment authorizations.

A fourth project is entitled "Common Departmental Financial System (CDFS) on the Intranet." This endeavour is intended to improve and update the CDFS by making its services available via the Intranet. The CDFS is a comprehensive financial management and reporting system designed for multi-departmental government use. Its main purpose is to simplify and streamline financial administration.

Another initiative, which is being developed by the Secure Application and Key Management Service, is entitled the "Government of Canada TruePass Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)". This project proposes to have all government employees access the information necessary to perform their duties via the Internet, including access to their own personal information. Preserving the confidentiality of transactions will therefore require the use of services provided by a PKI, including the issuance of digital certificates.

In January, at the GTIS Innovatec Centre, the ATIP Chief, Privacy, Policy and Government on Line delivered an in-depth presentation to 16 participants on the Privacy Impact Assessment (policy) process.

In October, at a special meeting of the Office Infrastructure Steering Committee, the ATIP Coordinator delivered an interactive presentation, providing an overview to 25 participants at the Director General level, of the Privacy Impact Assessment policy and guidelines being developed by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

The ATIP Office must be notified where personal information in a personal information bank is used or disclosed for a use consistent with the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the department, but where such use is not included in the statement of consistent uses published in Info Source.

The ATIP Office has registered this Personal Information Bank for the general public. Established under the authority of the Defence Production Act (DPA), the Controlled Goods Regulations came into effect on April 30, 2001. The process requires all persons examining, possessing, or transferring controlled goods (listed in the Schedule to the DPA) to another person in Canada to be registered or exempted from registration.

The ATIP Office has also registered the standard bank for employees in regards to the formal network monitoring process recently implemented within PWGSC. This process is to identify high levels of usage of the departmental network on user accounts, which will be brought to the attention of the appropriate manager for follow-up action on a quarterly basis. The ATIP Office provided advice and guidance to the PWGSC Nework Use Working Group to ensure that this initiative complied with the requirements of the Privacy Act and related policies. The employees of PWGSC have been informed of the process through various means (e-mail communiqué, revised departmental policy, pamphlet, network banner, PWGSC Network Use site).

Applicants can generally have access to their personal information on an informal basis by contacting the manager of the program area who controls the records. In these instances, the ATIP Office provides assistance and advice on an "as required" basis. Most of the requests received by PWGSC are for personnel-related records. These records are under the control of the Human Resources Branch. It is the practice of PWGSC to insist on the use of formal requests where the information is sensitive, and may be subject to an exemption or an exclusion pursuant to Sections 18 through 28 and 69 to 70 of the Act.

PWGSC is the recipient of few privacy requests. The majority of cases (56 percent) related to subjects such as competitions, security clearances and other personal information pertaining to the applicants. The remaining cases related to pension information (29 percent), investigations (12 percent) and grievances (3 percent).

There were 34 requests filed under the Privacy Act in 2001-2002. In addition, 3 government institutions consulted with PWGSC on 3 different cases. These cases accounted for 4 percent of the ATIP Office's caseload. Compared to 2000-2001, PWGSC experienced a modest decrease in the total number of privacy requests received. No corrections or notations were sought by requesters pursuant to the terms of the Act.

Although not reflected in the annual report's statistical tables, the Department also disclosed information to investigative bodies. There were 13 such requests made, as specified in the Privacy Regulations, which were processed during 2001-2002.

Of the 37 requests dealt with, 33 (89 percent) were completed during the 2001-2002 reporting period. The remaining 4 requests (11 percent) were not completed as of March 31, 2002. Taking into account only those cases where the department was able to process the request, information was released either in whole or in part in 85 percent of the cases. The completed requests are categorized as follows:

In 13 of the completed cases (39 percent), the requesters were provided with total access to the relevant records.

In another 15 instances (45 percent), the requesters were granted partial access.

Of the requests received, none concerned records not under the control of the department.

After initial review, the department was unable to process requests in 2 cases (6 percent). In most instances, this was because the department did not have any records which related to the request.

Of the completed requests, 3 were considered to be abandoned (9 percent). Such an action may occur at any stage of the request processing.

As noted in Annex B, exemptions under paragraphs 22(1)(a)(b), Sections 26 and 27 of the Act were invoked. The majority of the exemptions invoked were under Section 26 (Information about another individual) of the Act. Annex B is intended to show the types of exemptions invoked to deny access. For example, if in one request five different exemptions were used, one exemption under each relevant section would be reported for a total of five exemptions. If the same exemption is used several times for the same request, it is reported only once.

The Act does not apply to records considered to be confidences of the Queen's Privy Council pursuant to Section 70 of the Act. As in the case of exemptions, Annex B is intended to show the types of exclusions invoked to deny access. For example, if in one request 5 different exclusions are cited, one exclusion under each relevant section would be reported for a total of 5. If the same exclusion is used several times for the same request, it is reported only once. No exclusion was cited in dealing with Privacy requests.

Twenty-two cases were completed within the first 30 days. Ten were completed within 31 to 60 days from the date of receipt by the department.

Time extensions were required and taken on 3 cases. In each case, there was the need to consult with other government departments.

There were no requests for the translation of information from one official language to another.

Copies of the records were given in response to 23 requests (70 percent). It should be noted that this category reflects only those requests where the information was all disclosed or disclosed in part.

The amount of time devoted by ATIP Office staff to privacy issues, including the provision of advice, substantially increased in this fiscal year. Total salary costs associated with Privacy issues was estimated at $118,000 (10.7 percent) for 2000-2001. Operational and maintenance costs were estimated at $30,580 for a total cost of $148,580. The associated full-time equivalent resources utilization is estimated at 1.5 for 2001-2002.

Table II provides a breakdown of the complaints made to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and of requests for judicial review made to the Federal Court of Canada, over the past 3 fiscal years.

The ATIP Office saw a drastic and continued reduction in the number of complaints made to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in the 2001-2002 fiscal year when compared with the two previous fiscal years. This can be attributed, primarily, to the creation of a team of ATIP Officers dedicated solely to the processing of both Privacy requests and other Privacy related matters that the department encounters.

Of the 5 complaints lodged with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during the fiscal year, 2 were complaints made against the department concerning the unauthorized use and disclosure of personal information and 3 related to privacy requests.

Ten out of the eleven investigations relating to the complaints received by PWGSC in this and prior fiscal years were concluded during the fiscal year. Six of the ten (60 percent) were considered to be "well-founded", 2 (20 percent) were deemed "settled in the course of the investigation" and 2 (20 percent) were discontinued during the course of the investigation. These ten complaints related to missing records (50 percent), information withheld (30 percent), the time delays in processing requests (10 percent), and the language of access (10 percent). Noteworthy is that there were no challenges to time extensions taken pursuant to Section 15 of the Privacy Act.

On behalf of the National Archives of Canada, PWGSC let a contract for shredding services to the Golden West Document Shredding Inc. of Burnaby, British Columbia. Between January and July 1998, PWGSC, the National Archives of Canada as well as several other government departments, sent several tons of records containing sensitive personal information to the Golden West Document Shredding Inc. for destruction. Among the records intended to be shredded were Federal Government employee pay records, payroll registers, immigration case files, census, and employment records. Subsequently, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was informed that Golden West was offering the records for sale to the highest bidder instead of executing the terms and conditions of the contract. It was then determined that the company already had serious financial, security and technical problems before its facility security clearance had been granted and the contract let. An RCMP investigation determined that a recycling company had purchased records from Golden West and had shipped them to points outside of Canada, including South Korea and the People's Republic of China. Ultimately, the destruction of the records could not be verified. The Privacy Commissioner made several recommendations to the Deputy Minister of PWGSC, in an effort to ensure that this type of situation would not recur. PWGSC committed to review all off-site shredding companies to ensure that they comply fully with the Government Security Policy and the contract security requirements; to incorporate in contract clauses the application of administrative penalties and/or cancellation of the contract for unauthorized disclosure or use of personal information under the control of a federal institution or agency; and also to review its security clearance process and criteria to include a formal financial viability assessment and a Threat and Risk Assessment for any future contracts that would require the handling of sensitive personal information. The ATIP Office, for its part, committed to create a privacy module to the "Security and Contracting Course" to inform departmental employees of their roles and responsibilities in relation to the Privacy Act. A communiqué will be distributed to all employees informing them of their responsibility to notify the appropriate departmental official should they become aware of a suspected or actual security breach involving personal information. The ATIP Office is also working with departmental management to update a variety of departmental policies to ensure they make explicit linkages to privacy breaches constituting security breaches on privacy issues. The ATIP Office is also collaborating with the Canadian and International Industrial Security Directorate (CIISD) and the Supply Program Management Sector of PWGSC in the review of both the Supply Acquisition and Contract Clause Manual and the Supply Manual to ensure that references to privacy obligations are addressed.

There were no requests made to the Federal Court of Canada seeking a judicial review of decisions taken.

1 -The Communications Coordination Services Branch ceased to be a part of PWGSC on September 1, 2001.

2 -The Corporate Implementation Group ceased to be a part of PWGSC on January 15, 2002.

Annual Report 2002/2003

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