Following the Information Commissioner of Canada’s investigation of the failure by LAC in meeting the deadlines set out in the Access to Information Act there is now an action plan.
“This action plan provides the foundation for initiating important changes to LAC-ATIP, but tangible results will still take time.”
You can read the plan at https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/transparency/atippr/Pages/atip-action-plan-progress.aspx . It has three components: Getting back on track, Internal review and improvements, and Engage with external partners on broader issues affecting ATIP.
While the proposed actions make sense, it’s notable that no quantitive measures are included. For those who have requested copies of a Second World War service file, and have waited more than two years, there is no indication of when they can expect to receive it.
While there is a commitment to “report progress on this action plan on a semi-annual basis,” there is no statement of how many requests of different types are pending and commitment to reporting on the change in the numbers in the semi-annual reports. Without that, will those reports contain anything other than encouraging verbiage?