Annual Report: 2004-2005

The Government public Bill C-11, An Act to establish a procedure for the disclosure of wrongdoings in the public sector, including the protection of persons who disclose the wrongdoings, proposes to amend section 16 of the Act by adding the following after subsection (1):

(1.1) The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains information obtained or prepared by the President of the Public Service Commission under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, by a senior officer designated under subsection 10(2) of that Act or by a supervisor to whom a public servant has disclosed a wrongdoing under section 12 of that Act and that is in relation to a disclosure made or an investigation carried out under that Act if the record came into existence less than 20 years prior to the request.

This bill reproduces parts of the previous Government Bill C-25 on the same subject-matter, which died on the Order Paper on May 23, 2004. (2004, Bill C-11, Section 55; read and referred to Committee October 18, 2004)

The private member’s Bill C-276, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (Crown corporations and Canadian Wheat Board), proposes to make crown corporations and the Canadian Wheat Board subject to the Access to Information Act. This will be accomplished by replacing the definition of "government institution" in section 3 of the Act by the following:

"government institution" means any department or ministry of state of the Government of Canada listed in Schedule I, any body or office listed in Schedule I or any Crown corporation as defined in the Financial Administration Act, and includes the Canadian Wheat Board. (2004, Bill C-276, Section 1; received First Reading on November 15, 2004)