Canada's FOI laws outdated.

• Position: STUDY

In a recent comparative study of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws in five nations, Canada ranks dead last--a surprising reversal after many years of being regarded as a global model for government transparency.

The study by British academics at University College in London looked at the effectiveness of FOI laws in five parliamentary democracies: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The study, published in the Government Information Quarterly journal, ranked countries based on official statistics on appeals, court decisions, delays, and other factors affecting the release of government information to public requesters.

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New Zealand ranked first. According to the report, "Canada comes last as it has continually suffered from a combination of low use, low political support and a weak Information Commissioner since its inception."

Authors Robert Hazell and Ben Worthy criticized Canada's FOI law as an antiquated system that generally prevents citizens from filing requests electronically and requires them to submit paper checks to cover fees. Under the Access to Information Act, any resident of Canada can request government records for an initial $5 fee, according to The Canadian Press.

Canada was among the first dozen countries in the world to pass an FOI law, which took effect in 1983 in a non-digital world. As FOI increasingly came to be regarded as a building block of modern government, nations around the world often sought Canada's advice on how to implement such legislation, The Canadian Press said.

Today, more than 70 countries have implemented some form of FOI law, but Canada has lagged behind--and, paradoxically, has become an example of how not to manage FOI, Canada's information commissioner, Suzanne Legault, told The Canadian...