Right to Know
Right to Know Week - 2009
The fourth annual Right to Know Week in Canada – sponsored by provincial Information and Privacy Commissioners and the federal Information Commissioner – starts Sunday, September 27, 2009.
This special week, created to help focus attention on the public's right to access government-held information, is based on the international Right to Know Day, September 28. On that day in 2002, freedom of information organizations from more than a dozen countries met in Sofia, Bulgaria, and agreed to collaborate in the promotion of individual right of access to information and open, transparent government.
Right to Know Week in Canada builds on that theme. The week highlights the importance of Canada's various freedom of information regimes. Different events are being planned in various provinces and territories.
Among the events being sponsored by Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian are an information blitz on Ontarians’ rights under the province’s freedom of information legislation – with the IPC setting up information tables in three Ontario cities on September 28 – and a number of other special programs.
This special section of the IPC's website includes information on your rights under Ontario's freedom of information legislation, including how to file a request under that legislation - and how to appeal to the IPC if your request is denied by a provincial or municipal government organization.
Your Rights under Ontario’s Freedom of Information Laws
Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), which came into effect on January 1, 1988, established an Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) as an officer of the Legislature. The Commissioner is appointed by and reports to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and is independent of the government of the day.
FIPPA applies to all provincial ministries and most provincial agencies, boards and commissions, as well as to universities and colleges of applied arts and technology.
The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), which came into effect January 1, 1991, broadened the number of public institutions covered by Ontario’s freedom of information and privacy legislation. It covers local government organizations, such as municipalities, police, library, health and school boards, and transit commissions.
The term freedom of information (FOI) refers to public access to general records relating to the activities of government – ranging from administration and operations to legislation and policy – and access to records of your own personal information that government offices may hold. Being able to access this information is an important aspect of open and accountable government. (Privacy protection is the other side of that equation, and refers to the safeguarding of personal information held by government.)
The Acts provide that, subject to limited and specific exemptions, information under the control of provincial and municipal government organizations should be available to the public.
There were 37,933 FOI requests filed across Ontario in 2008 – the second highest total ever.
If you make a written freedom of information request under one of the Acts to a provincial or municipal government organization and are not satisfied with the response, you have a right to appeal that decision to the IPC. There were 919 appeals filed with the IPC in 2008.
Appeals concerning either general or personal information records may relate to a refusal by a government organization to provide access, the fees the organization wants to charge, the fact that the organization did not respond within the prescribed 30-day period, or other procedural aspects relating to an FOI request.
When an appeal is received, the IPC first attempts to settle it informally. If all issues cannot be resolved, the IPC may conduct an inquiry and issue a binding order, which may require the government organization to release all or part of the requested information.
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