As government agencies across Canada focus strained resources on protecting people from COVID-19, efforts to respond to freedom-of-information requests from the public are slowing or even stopping altogether.
The federal government and all provinces and territories have laws that allow people to request access to records — from briefing notes to expense reports — held by ministries and other public bodies.
At least three large federal departments recently issued notices advising requesters their applications for information would be placed on hold due to COVID-19, though one soon backpedalled on the move.
Many public servants are working from home, making it difficult to retrieve and process records. The federal ombudsman for requesters is
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