ANNUAL REPORT TO PARLIAMENT, 1999-2000

Changing Direction

The administration of the Access to Information Act (AIA) and Privacy Act

The Department of National Defence

Table of Contents

• Foreward
• Part 1 - Basics
• Part 2 - The Year in Review
• Part 3 - The Year Ahead
• Part 4 - Statistics
• Abbreviations and Acronyms

Annual Report to Parliament, 1999-2000

Foreward

Annual report to Parliament

Section 72 of both the Access to Information Act (AIA) and the Privacy Act requires that the head of every Government institution prepare and submit to Parliament an annual report on the administration of the Acts within the institution during each financial year. This is the seventeenth Annual Report to Parliament on administering the Acts in the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Forces (CF).

Part 1
The Basics

Overview

In addition to establishing rights of access to Government information, both Acts provide for a formal request mechanism that individuals may use to exercise those rights. These mechanisms include:

• Time limits and other response obligations for the institutions holding the information; and

• The procedure for lodging a complaint if an individual is not satisfied with how the institution handled a formal request.

Departmental mandate

The 1994 Defence White Paper for DND/CF confirmed the requirement to maintain multipurpose, combat-capable sea, land, and air forces to protect Canadians and project their interests and values abroad. The Department will remain focused on its personnel, placing strong emphasis on Quality of Life issues and ensure that personnel receive the proper training and equipment to enable them to carry out operational missions without unnecessary risk.

Defence Strategy 2020 marks a significant milestone. Starting from the existing policy base set out in the 1994 Defence White Paper, the senior leadership team has created a strategic framework for Defence planning and decision-making to help guide the institution well into the next century. In identifying the challenges and opportunities facing the Department and the Canadian Forces, recognition is taken of the need for the Defence Team to report on its activities to Parliament and the public in a manner that is open, relevant, and understandable. Strong institutional support of ATIP legislation and related administrative practices is being fostered in the Department and the CF to ensure the values of openness and transparency become, and remain, part of the organizational culture in the 21^st century.

Departmental organization

National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa provides broad direction for administration and operations, with specific execution being assigned to the various elements of the Canadian Forces located across the country. CF regular and reserve-force personnel live, train, and work in every province and territory of Canada, as well as at bases, stations, and operational missions around the world.

As described in the Departmental Report on Plans and Priorities, the Ombudsman's office became operational on16 June 1999. Established to act as a neutral third party, independent of the military chain of command and civilian management, the mission of the Ombudsman's office is to ensure that all defence members are treated fairly by resolving individual complaints and contributing substantial and long lasting improvements to their welfare. Like the remainder of the Department, the Ombudsman is subject to the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. To ensure the confidentiality of information brought to his attention, however, the Ombudsman has been given autonomy in ATIP matters related to his office. Accordingly, a separate annual report will be tabled respecting the administration of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts within the Office of the Ombudsman.

DND organization chart

DND/CF ATIP organization

"The Minister of National Defence, pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, hereby designates the person holding the position of Director Access to Information and Privacy to exercise the powers and functions of the Minister as the Head of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces under the Acts." A separate delegation provides the Ombudsman with the same authorities, but for ATIP issues pertinent to that office.

Within each subordinate headquarters, base, station, and unit, there is a designated senior CF member or Departmental employee who is responsible for local ATIP administration.

Part 2
The Year in Review

In previous years, Departmental ATIP performance has been observed as needing improvement. To begin changing this reality and the perceptions associated with it, the MND wrote to the DM and CDS on 6 April 1999. In this letter, the MND provided clear direction that AIA legislation be complied with, not only to ensure respect for the law, but to reinforce institutional openness and transparency and thereby contribute to the public's confidence in the Department and the CF.

The ATIP organization at National Defence (DAIP) employs 32 civilian and

9 military personnel. Contract personnel were engaged at various levels during the year on an as required basis.

DND also aggressively targeted its longstanding backlog of Privacy Act requests during FY 99/00 by establishing a dedicated 'SWAT Team' to address them. This resulted in a reduction of unanswered requests from in excess of 4,000 in April 1998, to some 700 at the end of FY 99/00, of which less than half remain without a response within statutory time limits.

The integrated Access and Privacy team structure reported last year was refined during FY 99/00. Drawing from the Information Commissioner's 1997 review of this Department's Directorate of Access to Information and Privacy (DAIP), and from a 1998 review by consultants engaged through Consulting and Audit Canada (CAC), the four teams that were initially created have been reduced to three. Emerging resource imbalances and inequities in workload distribution have been corrected. Classification levels of operational staff have been reviewed, and upgraded where warranted. Additionally, DAIP management has been reduced by one Team Leader; six additional ATIP analyst positions have been established; and the over-reliance on contract employees has been stopped.

Improved

ATIP Case

Management

Building on this foundation, DAIP has begun proactive management of individual AIA case files to ensure that legally allowable and appropriate extensions to response deadlines are claimed consistently, and systematically. The same action is being taken with respect to requests for personal information submitted under the Privacy Act. Although these practices were commenced in earnest only in the latter part of FY 99/00, the percentage of AIA cases completed within allowable time frames increased from 35.7% for FY 98/99, to 47.8% for the FY 99/00. Similarly, the number of Privacy Act requests responded to within allowable time frames increased from 16.4% to 34.3% over the same period. Preliminary figures for the first month of FY 00/01 show these improvements continuing to accelerate, with 81.6 % and 51.3% of Access to Information and Privacy cases respectively being completed on time.

Amendment to Section 67 of the AIA was proclaimed on 25 March 1999, thus introducing penalties under criminal law for document falsification, destruction, concealment, and other acts, where they are taken with the intent to deny the right of access guaranteed by the AIA. This amendment served as the catalyst for revision of existing policy guidance and instruction applicable to the administration of the AIA in DND. As a result, revised Departmental Administrative Orders and Directives (DAOD's) were distributed electronically throughout the Department and the CF on 12 October 1999 via the institutional IntraNet where they have remained readily available for the use and guidance of all Departmental employees and CF members.

On 1 April 1998 the Department began development and delivery of formal ATIP education. In the two years that have passed, generic and custom designed ATIP courses, briefings, and information sessions have been delivered to more than 2,500 members and employees. This has relieved the pressing need for ATIP training that had accumulated in some parts of the institution, and enabled the delivery of future training to become increasingly proactive, 'outreaching', and systematic. To this end, all Departmental Assistant Deputy Ministers, their Canadian Forces counterparts, and other members of the institution's senior management team have been asked to identify the ATIP training needs of their respective organizations for programming and delivery by DAIP during FY 00/01. This shift to proactive training and sensitization is a significant departure from past practices and is expected to increase institutional awareness of federal Access to Information and Privacy laws - resulting in greater compliance with them.

DND/CF Reading Room

DND began providing an informal access service in FY 95/96 that enabled individuals to request and receive copies of records requested by, and released to previous applicants - without having to submit a separate formal AIA request themselves. While the informal process does not confer the rights of complaint that accompany formal requests, steadily increasing numbers of individuals have opted for the informal method of access as evidenced by the following table.

National Defence has lead the Public Service in applying Web-based technology to provide Canadians with information respecting records released under the AIA. To improve the delivery of informal access services, for example, the Department began posting synopses of many of its closed AIA cases to the Internet in 1997. Not only has this initiative successfully enabled the delivery of these services to sharply increasing numbers of Canadians as indicated in the table above; it has provided tangible evidence of the department's commitment to the principles of openness and transparency.

Part 3
The Year Ahead

Transparency

Looking ahead to the coming year, DND plans to build on progress that it has made to date in the areas of openness and transparency. Consideration will be given, for example, to expanding the existing Departmental Access to Information Web Site to include not only synopses of closed AIA cases as is the present case, but to possibly include electronic copies of the released documents as well. Related to options that will be explored in this regard, are those that have to do with electronic receipt of and reply to, Access to Information Act requests - and, where indicated, electronic payment of chargeable fees.

Management of Information Holdings

As has been observed recently by the Information Commissioner, an institution's ability to respond fully and completely to AIA requests is heavily dependent on the quality of its information management practices. Like all other institutions, DND is in the process of migrating from an exclusively paper environment to one that is electronic. While the ability to respond fully to AIA requests should not be the only reason for an institution to manage its information assets effectively, Departmental ATIP staff have already begun acting as catalysts for managed change to existing DND information and records management practices.

Privacy Policy and Direction

With the promulgation of revised and updated AIA related DAODs, attention will be focussed on the production of similarly renewed policy direction respecting Privacy Act, and its administration within DND and the CF. Chief among the objectives of these DAODs will be the delivery of clear direction respecting the not only the right of access granted in the Privacy Act, but clear direction respecting the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information under the control of the Department and the CF.

Training and Education

Departmental ATIP staff will continue to provide specialized and institutionally unique ATIP training to address the requirements of individual organizational elements. At the same time, emphasis will continue to be placed on the delivery of basic threshold ATIP knowledge to all members of the Defence Team. The use of alternative media in delivering ATIP educational messages will also be explored during the coming year. Awareness of those organizational elements that have received ATIP training may be coupled with ATIP performance measurement across the institution to help senior managers assess the extent of institutional compliance with ATIP legislation.

Part 4 - Statistics

Report on the access to information act

Report on the privacy act

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Abbreviations and Acronyms

This is an alphabetical list of abbreviations and acronyms used in this report.