The complainant alleged that National Defence (DND) did not respond to an access request within the 30-day period set out in section 7 of the Access to Information Act. The request was for “Report 002-18: The militia movement, the III%, and the threat to DND/CAF” and any associated documents.

The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The investigation determined that DND did not respond by the required date and is deemed to have refused access to the requested records under subsection 10(3). The delay was caused by the failure of the Office of Primary Interest (OPI) to respond when tasked with retrieving relevant records.

The Information Commissioner determined that the delay in the retrieval of records by the OPI is completely unacceptable given its initial estimation that the document requested is only 13 pages long.

The Information Commissioner ordered that DND provide a complete response to the access request no later than 36 business days after the date of the final report.

DND gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing the order.

The complaint is well founded.