Information commissioner has right to see documents, federal court rules
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that the CBC must hand over some of its internal records to the federal information commissioner, the Toronto Star reports. Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, the court determined, has the right to see the documents in order to be able to review complaints filed against the public broadcaster following denials to freedom-of-information requests. The CBC blocked the release of records related to 16 such requests citing exemptions under the federal Access to Information and Privacy Act involving documents related to its journalistic, creative and programming activities. The public broadcaster is also under scrutiny in the Commons, where an ethics committee is investigating whether it abused the exemption clause to avoid handing over documents to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Quebecor-owned QMI Agency and Sun News Network, which ran a series of stories about the CBC’s spending habits, have also complained about unfairly being denied freedom-of-information requests.