Right to Know Week will crystalize importance
of open government: Commissioner Cavoukian

TORONTO - A special panel discussion in Toronto will help mark the first Right to Know Week in Canada. Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian, her counterparts in other provinces and territories and the federal Information Commissioner are all holding special events during the week of September 25 to help focus attention on an individual’s right of access to government-held information and open, transparent government.

Right to Know Week is based on the international Right to Know Day. On September 28, 2002, freedom of information organizations from various countries around the globe met in Sofia, Bulgaria, created a network of Freedom of Information Advocates, and agreed to collaborate in the promotion of open government.

Since then, these organizations and others have marked Right to Know Day on September 28.

Right to Know Week in Canada builds on that theme. The week highlights the importance of Canada's various freedom of information regimes. Different events are being planned in various provinces.

“The right of citizens to access government-held information is absolutely essential,” said Commissioner Cavoukian. “Otherwise, citizens cannot hold elected and appointed officials accountable to the people they serve. Without openness and accountability, you cannot have a strong democratic society.”

A special luncheon is being held Tuesday, September 26, at the Ontario Club, Commerce Court South, in Toronto, highlighted by a panel discussion entitled Reflections on the Need for Open, Transparent Government. Commissioner Cavoukian will be the moderator. The three panelists are:

• Anne Kothawala, President of the Canadian Newspaper Association, which has sponsored a second audit by newspapers of how government organizations respond to FOI requests;

• Rob Cribb, an award-winning Toronto Star reporter and a past-president of the Canadian Association of Journalists; and

• Brian Beamish, Assistant Commissioner for Access and head of the IPC’s Tribunal Services Department, which hears appeals from requesters who are not satisfied with the response they have received from government organizations to their FOI requests.

Tickets to the luncheon are available through the Toronto Region branch of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), which – along with the Canadian Newspaper Association – is co-sponsoring the luncheon with the IPC.

For information about tickets, contact Kit Chapman of IPAC at 416-363-6509, extension 1, or at [email protected].

Media Contact
Bob Spence
Communications Co-ordinator
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario
Direct line:    416-326-3939
Toll free:       1-800-387-0073
Cell phone:    416-873-9746
e-mail:           [email protected]
website:         www.ipc.on.ca