Presented Friday, September 25 and 26, 2006

Introduction, documentation follows:

This two-day conference is part of the Right to Know Week, inspired by Canada's federal and provincial information and privacy commissioners across Canada.  Provincial Commissioners and other organizations will be holding similar events across the country.

The Federal Access to Information Act has been in operation for twenty-three years.  Since its inception there have been two major reviews of the legislation, and calls for change from practitioners, access advocates, business groups, academics and journalists who are concerned about the legislation as it stands.  The new government has put forth extensive amendments to the Access to Information Act (ATIA) as part of the proposed Federal Accountability Act now before Parliament. The proposed amendments to the ATIA include extending the law to parent Crown Corporations, agents of Parliament, and three foundations to be created by federal statute.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES PROPOSED 

The question is the degree to which the act will be changed and what impact will it have on both government and the public.   This seminar will take an in-depth approach to the proposed changes. There will be a diversity of speakers from the private sector and from government, bringing users and the access community together and creating an opportunity for dialogue and exchange between the speakers and the delegates on the extensive changes being proposed to the law. 

Once passed by Parliament these changes will have a significant resonance on the access community and users. How are all these trends converging and what are the implications for access coordinators and professionals in the field? Target audiences for this event are federal access coordinators across the country, federal and provincial access to information commissioners and their staffs, policy makers, departmental offices within the public service, and users of access laws, including businesses, academic institutions, associations, NGOs and the media. This seminar will prove invaluable to new coordinators who will be needed in the Crown corporations coming under the scope of the legislation.

Schedule of the  Seminar and Training Session 
Presented Friday, September 25 and 26, 2006
Westin Hotel, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa

Highlights from the September 25 and 26, 2006 Seminar 

Access and Preservation: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist Canada

There's No Accountability without Transparency: But can governments resist the temptation to control the past? (PDF)
Anne Kothawala, President and CEO, Canadian Newspaper Association

THE ACCESS ACT AND NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES: THE IMPLICATIONS 
Michael Turner, E-Government Strategies, Ottawa

THE ACCESS ACT: WHAT DO THE REFORMS MEAN?
Michael Turner, E-Government Strategies, Ottawa

ACCESS AND CHANGE: NEW INSTITUTIONS (PPT)
Gilles Gaignery, Coordinator, Access to Information and Privacy, National Capital Commission 

STRENGTHENING THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT (ATIA): A Discussion of Ideas Intrinsic to the Reform of the ATIA (PDF)
Paper from the Federal Government of Canada