Transparency is essential for democracy. Access to information plays a fundamental role in guaranteeing the transparency of government actions and decisions. It fosters civic engagement and trust in our democratic processes. When governments make decisions that affect people’s lives, the public has a right to know about them. The right to know is not just a “pleasure to have”, it is essential to the healthy functioning of our society.
I first appreciated the importance of the right to know at an international information conference in Mexico in 2005. There, civil society groups and advocates from developing countries courageously spoke out about the woeful absence of access to information laws in their jurisdictions. and countries. bureaucratic obstacles that deliberately block access to information and prevent citizens from seeking government services and exercising their rights against the state. The Cancun Declaration, Transparency and Accountability: A Commitment to Democracyco-signed by civil society groups from around the world, captured it best:
“The right of access to information is meaningless if people cannot use the information to improve their quality of life. Access to information should not simply belong to the elites, but should be a daily component of participatory democracy, equitable development and the fight against poverty and discrimination”.
For the past two years, I have had the great privilege of serving as Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner. I know we are lucky to live in a place where we have privacy and access to information legislation. But there is much more we can do.
Under Ontario privacy and access laws, individuals may request access to both general records and information about themselves held by provincial and municipal government institutions. Similar laws, some more modern and robust than others, exist in other Canadian provinces and territories, including at the federal level.
However, the concept of “open government” goes much further. A central principle is that information held by the government should be publicly available unless there are legitimate legal reasons not to disclose it. Public institutions should proactively publish as much information as possible in the public interest without waiting for people to request it.
Last week was Right to Know Week. My office wanted to do something a little different to encourage more transparency and shine a light on the virtues of open government. So on International Right to Know Day, September 28, we launched a transparency challengecalling on Ontario’s public sector institutions at the provincial and municipal levels to share their innovative projects or programs that improve government transparency.
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The idea came from a conversation I had with a community activist and bestselling author Dave Meslin During an episode of our information matters podcast. He told us about a challenge he had launched for municipalities to find better ways to post public notices in a clear and accessible way. Several excellent presentations emerged from the carpentry. He said if an individual like him acting alone could have this kind of impact, imagine what the office of the information and privacy commissioner can do. Well, we decided to accept Meslin’s call to action.
With the launch of our Transparency Challenge, we’re looking for creative examples of modern initiatives that improve government transparency, promote civic engagement, and show how open data can have a tangible, positive impact on Ontarians.
We know these examples are out there. Increasingly, public institutions are developing novel and automated ways to speed up the processing of access to information requests. Others are proactively publishing thousands of data sets to help foster innovation and help improve the daily lives of Ontarians.
Opinion: With the Transparency Challenge, Ontario privacy watchdog Patricia Kosseim @IPCinfoprivacy calls on public institutions to share examples that promote openness. #IPCTransparencyChallenge #CyberMonth2022 #FIPPA #KnowYourRights
We’ve seen how apps can use open government data to help people plan local transit routes, survey Ontario’s power grid, find local health care, and identify which streets have been cleaned after a heavy snowfall. With open data released during the pandemic, communities have developed stronger emergency management programs and provided better targeted approaches to vaccines and testing.
I hope that organizations are up to the Transparency Challenge. The role of our office will be to collect, curate and celebrate great examples of transparency initiatives. We will feature some of them at our Transparency Showcase in mid-2023 as a way to encourage others to follow suit.
We know it takes more than one special day, week or campaign to make a lasting difference, so pPrivacy and transparency in modern government are two of my office’s strategic priorities. Our goal is to advance the privacy and access rights of Ontarians by working with public institutions to develop fundamental principles and comprehensive governance frameworks for responsible and accountable deployment of digital technologies. The Transparency Challenge is part of that broader effort.
And who knows, maybe what we learn in Ontario will inspire governments and policymakers across the country on how we can all improve transparency.
Patricia Kosseim began her five-year term as Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner on July 1, 2020. She has extensive experience in access, privacy and health law, having worked in the public, private and health sectors, and in various jurisdictions. . Prior to the role of commissioner of Ontario, Kosseim was a lawyer in Osler Data and Privacy Management Group, where he provided strategic advice to clients on issues of privacy, data governance and right of access.