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Access to Information and Privacy - Crown Corporations/FAQs (view source)
Revision as of 13:23, 26 June 2018
, 13:23, 26 June 2018no edit summary
(2) A head of a government institution shall not cause to be published any of the information, any part of the information, any of the materials or any part of the materials referred to in any of sections 82 to 88 if that information, that part of the information, those materials or that part of those materials were set out in a record and, in dealing with a request for access to that record, he or she would be required under Part 1 to refuse to disclose that record, in whole or in part, for a reason that is set out in that Part or because that Part does not apply to the information or materials in question.
(2) A head of a government institution shall not cause to be published any of the information, any part of the information, any of the materials or any part of the materials referred to in any of sections 82 to 88 if that information, that part of the information, those materials or that part of those materials were set out in a record and, in dealing with a request for access to that record, he or she would be required under Part 1 to refuse to disclose that record, in whole or in part, for a reason that is set out in that Part or because that Part does not apply to the information or materials in question.
==Crown Corporations and Bill C-58: Proactive Publication==
===Will proactive publication requirements of Bill C-58 apply to all Crown corporations?===
Bill C-58 proactive publication requirements will apply to Crown corporations and their wholly-owned subsidiaries by virtue of the definition of “government institutions.” Section 3 of the Access to Information Act defines “government institution” as including: “any parent Crown corporation, and any wholly-owned subsidiary of such a corporation, within the meaning of s. 83 of the Financial Administration Act”. Section 83 of the Financial Administration Act defines a Crown corporation as a parent Crown corporation or a wholly-owned subsidiary.
===Under Bill C-58, are Crown corporations considered a government institution, a government entity, or both?===
The Access to Information Act includes Crown corporations and their wholly-owned subsidiaries within the definition of “government institution”. Accordingly, Crown corporations are subject to the Bill C-58 Part 2 requirements for “government institutions” set out in sections 82, 83 and 84 of Bill C-58.<br>
“Government entities” is defined in section 81 of Bill C-58. The definition does not include Crown corporations or their wholly-owned subsidiaries. Government entities are subject to a wider range of proactive publication obligations such as reclassification of positions; contracts over $10,000; grants and contributions over $25,000; and briefing materials. These requirements do not apply to Crown corporations or their wholly-owned subsidiaries.
===What sections of Bill C-58 are particularly relevant for Crown corporations? ===
Bill C-58 would legislate three proactive publication obligations for Crown corporations and their wholly-owned subsidiaries. These are similar to the existing TBS proactive disclosure requirements that many Crown corporations already voluntarily observe.
Crown corporations and their wholly-owned subsidiaries would be required to proactively publish:<br>
* travel expenses of senior officers or employees within 30 days after the end of the month in which expenses are reimbursed (section 82)
* hospitality expenses of senior officers or employees within 30 days after the end of the month in which expenses are reimbursed (section 83)
* reports tabled in Parliament for example, corporate plans and budgets summaries and annual reports (section 84)
Proactive publication of travel and hospitality expenses will apply to senior officers or employees, as defined in section 81 of Bill C-58.<br>
Note that Bill C-58 would not require the release of information under Part 2 that would be withheld in a response to an access to information request, such as personal information (section 90).
===What positions within Crown corporations must proactively publish travel and hospitality expenses?===
<br>
Crown corporations will be required to proactively publish the information related to travel and hospitality expenses as defined by the legislation for each “senior officer or employee”. Section 81 defines “senior officer or employee” as “any person who exercises the powers or performs the duties and functions of a … president, a vice-president, a chief executive officer or a member of a board of directors, and any person who holds a position of an equivalent rank”. <br>
As this definition is legislated, there is no flexibility in terms of the classes of officers/employees to whom it applies.
* For Crown corporations, the “vice-president” equivalent would be established by virtue of accountability and reporting relationships and includes executives reporting directly to the President, regardless of title.
* All “members of a board of directors” are also covered, regardless of full or part-time status or rank on the board (that is, both members and chairs are required to meet the obligations).
===Where must Crown corporations publish their information?===
Bill C-58 provides the President of the Treasury Board with the authority to specify the form of the proactive publication.<br>
To allow time to adapt their business practices to publication on open.canada.ca, for the present, Crown corporations can continue to publish travel and hospitality expenses to their institutional websites, with the option to publish to open.canada.ca. Wholly-owned subsidiaries could publish information through their parent organization.<br>
Crown corporations choosing to post to open.canada.ca do not need to duplicate the posting of the information on their websites. For questions related to open.canada.ca, please contact the {{em|mailto:open-ouvert@tbs-sct.gc.ca|Open Government Mailbox}}.
==Implementation==
==Implementation==