The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, responsible for assisting individuals who feel federal offices have not respected their rights granted under the Access to Information Act, has seen a “record influx” in the number of complaints filed since last year, a House of Commons committee has heard.
Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard told the Commons Standing Committee on Ethics on May 12 that her office closed a total of 8,089 complaints in the last fiscal year, saying the volume has now become so high that the office no longer has the capacity to process all of them.
“Since the beginning of my mandate in 2018, the annual number of complaints closed by my office has increased by 310 percent,” Maynard said, adding that her office “also saw a record influx of 7,407 new complaints.”…