Code of Silence Award

The Canadian Association of Journalists released the finalist list for the Code of Silence Award on May 15. The finalists are those government departments best at keeping information secret.

The finalists are:

1. The Department of Foreign Affairs for denying the existence of documents related to the treatment of Afghan detainees that were requested under federal Access to Information legislation. Even after complaints to the federal Information Commissioner, the department would only release a heavily excised version of a report to the Globe and Mail in which every reference to torture and abuse in Afghan prisons was blacked out. The federal Information Commissioner gave the Department of Foreign Affairs an "F" grade in his most recent annual report for failing to reply to 60 per cent of its access to information requests within the statutory deadlines, more than any other department audited last year.

2. The Immigration and Refugee Board for employing lengthy delays, misinformation, deceit and excessive fees to block Access to Information requests by journalist Roxana Olivera. In one case, the department claimed not to have any documents related to the granting of refugee status to Americans in Canada. Following a complaint to the Information Commissioner, the department confirmed it had conferred status upon four American citizens. The Information Commissioner also found "a serious deemed-refusal situation and lack of an up-to-date ATI support structure in the IRB's current policies, procedures, and technology."

3. The governments of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick for being the only remaining provinces in Canada that lack freedom of information legislation covering municipalities. As a result, the public in both provinces do not have the legally-backed right to know what municipalities are doing with their tax dollars.

4. Transport Canada for doggedly fighting for four years to keep basic aviation safety data out of the hands of journalists and the public. Following a formal request for the data by the Hamilton Spectator in 2001, the department dug in its heels, at one point claiming that information about commercial aircraft incidents constituted the personal information of the pilots flying the planes. Only a legal challenge before the Federal Court finally persuaded Transport Canada to release the data last year. Transport Canada was also nominated for failing to complete a Canadian Press request from February of last year for the new minister's briefing book on current issues and upcoming events.

5. The Ontario government for refusing to give the provincial ombudsman power to investigate hospitals. Ontario is the only Canadian province where hospitals aren't subject to the scrutiny of an ombudsman. Despite repeated public demands for greater transparency around one of the most costly and essential public sectors in the country's most populous province, Ontario hospitals remain outside the scope of both provincial freedom of information legislation and independent investigation.