Canada Post response to information requests "unacceptable"
Canada Post received a rap on the knuckles from watchdogs today, for its “astonishing” delays in responding to public requests for information. The postal operator is one of the five Crown Corporations now subject to the country’s freedom of information legislation, the 2007 Access to Information Act.
Reporting back on the company for the first time today, the Information Commissioner of Canada, Suzanne Legault, issued a “red alert” regarding internal delays and drawn-out review periods for informational requests.
In the report, the Commissioner acknowledged some of the difficulties that larger Crown Corporations faced in dealing with information requests, and that Canada Post had been particularly concerned about the possibility of commercially-sensitive information slipping out.
Another large Crown Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation received a failing “F” grade for its performance in the report, but Legault said Canada Post’s performance was “so far off the chart that we were unable to ascribe a rating”.
Reporting back to Parliament today, the Commissioner said of Canada Post: “We observed an astonishing 190-day average completion time for the 84 requests they completed in 2009-2010 and three out of four requests were delayed much beyond their deadlines. These numbers are unacceptable.”
Canada Post agreed today that its performance had been “unacceptable”.
The company’s new president, Deepak Chopra spoke to the Commissioner to assure her that Canada Post would work to comply with the Access to Information Act.
In a statement issued today, Canada Post insisted that it did subscribe to principles of accountability and transparency laid down within the Act and had already undertaken a “thorough” analysis of the issues causing delays, forming a multi-year plan to address the problems.
Promising a streamlining of internal processes and improved awareness of obligations by employees, Canada Post said: “We need to improve our overall performance while maintaining the level of review necessary to manage risks associated with commercially-sensitive information.”
