The Dissolution Of CAIRS
When the minority government of Stephen Harper came to power it did so with the promise that transparency and accountability would be its cornerstones. Since that time, Harper’s government has taken various steps in the other direction, the most recent being the quiet dissolution of CAIRS - the Coordination of Access to Information Requests System.
Instituted in 1989 as an internal mechanism with which to monitor requests and allow Canadian agencies to co-ordinate their responses to the release of sensitive information, it has also since been used by both journalists and the public to access information, much of which has then been used to hold government accountable.
“It was really a tool designed to make government more open,” said CBC investigative journalist David McKie.
“Now that it appears as though this is no longer going to be available it is very disappointing indeed and people are really wondering what the real motivation is.”
Last week, a notice to civil servants from Treasury Board stated that effective April 1, “the requirement to update CAIRS is no longer in effect.”
A Treasury Board official confirmed to the Canadian Press on Friday that the system is being killed because “extensive” consultations showed it wasn’t valued by government departments.
Instead, “valuable resources currently being used to maintain CAIRS would be better used in the collection and analysis of improved statistical reporting,” said Robert Makichuk.
Since 2006, McKie has operated a website that publishes the monthly reports released through CAIRS on a publicly accessible website, www.onlinedemocracy.ca .
He took over from Alasdair Roberts, a political scientist at Syracuse University in New York, who built a version of the database by requesting CAIRS electronic records through access to information requests and then updated the site with the monthly reports.
The online database allows the public to quickly search thousands of requests from over the years by typing key words into a search engine.
The documents are not available online, only the wording of the original access to information request, date, department, file number and general information about whether the requester was with the media, business, academic or other.
But users can then make a written request for a copy of the already released documents by citing the file number.
Monthly paper lists have also been made available since the 1990s for public consultation at a central federal office in Ottawa.
Public Works, which operates the database, spent $166,000 improving it in 2001. Federal officials in 2003 had been working on a publicly accessible online version.
“To do this now after the CAIRS’ usefulness has been proven over and over again is indicative of the extent to which government will go to stifle the access regime,” said Michel Drapeau, a lawyer who frequently uses the system and is a co-author of a reference work on access law.
“This is terrible and I consider this to be yet one more step in making records less accessible,” he told Canadian Press.”
So much for transparency and accountability.
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May 3rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I find it truly disheartening that there is a dissolution of something intended to give the public access to information…that, in itself, speaks volumes. What you don’t know CAN hurt you and it’s scary when the government tries to shut doors so they can conduct their business.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Matthew, is any other government (the world over) any different/ Can we really expect truth / unbroken promises / honesty from any of them?? I think not…, sadly. That’s why I didn’t vote (in our elections).
xx
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[quote comment="51698"]Matthew, is any other government (the world over) any different/ Can we really expect truth / unbroken promises / honesty from any of them?? I think not…, sadly. That’s why I didn’t vote (in our elections).
xx[/quote]
stormy…not only should we expect the truth, we should DEMAND it.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Demand is one thing…geting is another…
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Sorry Deb, no disresprect. It’s just that I’ve yet to come across a politician (in my country at least) who can give a straight answer, yet alone admit they right be wrong, for once.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
True enough…but if we simply roll over and take a defeatist attitude then it allows things to continue to go along unchecked.
I used to feel the same way - “what can I do?”. But I often use my little voice here (locally) and have learned that sometimes it is heard. I recently wrote two different emails (as a longtime resident of my city) that had a direct impact on some important decisions being made here. It’s worth the effort.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Stormydog, I don’t think abstaining is going to do you any favours. Who isn’t frustrated with our government to some degree? But I think it’s better to support the lesser of evils, if that’s how you see them, than just refuse to play a game that affects you whether you play or not.
As for CAIRS, this is probably something my journalism profs are thinking about right now too. Learning about the Access to Information Act was one of the last things we did this year.
Better government statistics would be great, but making AIA use even more difficult doesn’t immediately seem like a good tradeoff.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
“Save CAIRS”
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveCAIRS?e
May 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
http://thestar.blogs.com/politics/2008/05/who-cairs.html
May 6th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
The devil you know …
Thus far — under Conservative and Liberal governments alike — CAIRS has existed more as a framework for denying requests for information than a conduit for sharing it. Will we be better served by no system at all? Probably not. On the other hand, tearing one system down does create the opportunity to build a stronger one in its place.
Not sure this is the government suited to doing it. But one can only hope. Raising hell will help though.