Letter to the Deputy Minister of National Defence (March 2025)

March 19, 2025

Ms. Stephanie Beck
Deputy Minister
Department of National Defence
stefanie.beck@forces.gc.ca

Dear Deputy Minister Beck,

In light of ongoing issues related to access to information at the Department of National Defence (DND), I am writing to inform you that I plan to include a section focusing on your institution in my upcoming 2024–2025 Annual Report as part of my ongoing oversight of the state of the access to information system.

It has now been nearly five years since my systemic investigation into DND identified concerns in nine key areas, including the impact of competing priorities on the ability of Offices of Primary Interest (OPIs) to fulfill their duty to respond to access requests and their awareness of responsibilities under the Access to Information Act. In my 2021–2022 Annual Report, DND was given the opportunity to outline the measures taken in response to these findings and the results achieved.

While I recognized that some progress had been made following my systemic investigation, over the past three years, my investigations continue to show that DND struggles to provide timely responses to access to information requests, mainly due to two key factors:

The disregard shown by some OPIs for their responsibilities to provide records to the Access to Information and Privacy unit (ATIP) in a timely manner; and
The ATIP unit’s resulting inability to take appropriate actions, including setting extensions based on reasonable and reliable timelines, to provide responses to requesters.

Your latest Annual Report to Parliament regarding the administration of the Access to Information Act highlights this challenge. In this regard, DND responded to less than 58% of requests within legislated timelines in 2023–2024, a 4.5% decrease from the previous reporting period. This downward trend is concerning, as nearly half of all requests were not completed within the required timeframes, raising serious questions about DND’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

As you will recall, I also raised concerns regarding DND’s compliance with my orders when I met with your Executive Committee last December. Since issuing my first order to your department in June 2022 regarding delays in responding to an access request, I have issued a total of 117 orders:

105 related to delays,
5 related to extensions of time, and
7 related to incomplete record searches.

As I noted in a recent letter to the President of the Treasury Board, while my orders are legally binding, certain institutions, including DND, have elected to neither implement them nor exercise their right to apply to the Federal Court for a review. I have therefore had no choice but to apply for a writ of mandamus asking the Federal Court to ensure that these institutions complied with my orders. Of eight such applications I have made so far, five have been made against the Minister of National Defence for DND.

Furthermore, in recent months, I have issued two specific recommendations to DND in final reports following investigations into delay complaints:

I recommend that the Minister of National Defence develop proper processes and procedures to ensure that DND OPIs abide by their responsibilities to provide responsive records in a timely fashion to DND’s Departmental Access to Information and Privacy office (DAIP).
I recommend that the Minister of National Defence develop performance indicators to hold its senior officials accountable for delays in providing responsive records to DAIP.

In response to my recommendations, I was informed in June 2024 that DND has begun efforts to implement them, including the establishment of a multidisciplinary team to address concerns related to access to information. This working group aims to engage various stakeholders, identify challenges, and implement improvement options, including changes to processes and procedures, the creation and implementation of tools, and the adoption of new technologies. However, through my investigations, I have seen no results to date—nor any improvement.

As you know, leadership is crucial for driving change within an organization. I have often stated that the heads of institutions must lead by example and constantly remind public officials of their responsibility to provide timely access to information for Canadians. The ATIP office alone cannot be held accountable for ensuring compliance with the Act; it is a shared responsibility across institutions. It is the responsibility of leaders like you to ensure that this duty is understood and upheld throughout the institution.

I ask that you provide an update on any further progress DND has made in the areas identified above, as well as on the implementation of my recommendations. I would also appreciate receiving your institution’s access to information performance statistics for the 2024–2025 fiscal year. Additionally, if there are any other significant developments you wish to highlight, I would welcome that information for potential inclusion in my 2024–2025 Annual Report.

I look forward to your response by April 18, 2025. Do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further details.

Sincerely,

Caroline Maynard
Information Commissioner of Canada