About this episode

Caroline Maynard discusses Canada's access to information failures and the government's reform proposals.

Despite repeated studies and promises for reform, Canada’s access to information system has long been plagued by long delays, overbroad exclusions, insufficient resources, and an Information Commissioner without the resources and powers needed to fully ensure compliance. The government is currently undertaking yet another reform process as the Treasury Board has released proposed changes. They’ve left Caroline Maynard, Canada’s Information Commissioner, largely unimpressed. She is relieved the government is open to change, but warns that the approaches “lack ambition” and, more pointedly, that the review “must not become a justification for further secrecy.” Commissioner Maynard joins the Law Bytes podcast to walk through her concerns with the government’s plans and her proposals for improving Canada’s access to information law.

People in this episode

Host: Michael Geist

Guest: Caroline Maynard

Topics covered

• access to information
• government reform
• transparency
• Canada
• information commissioner
• public policy

Keywords

• access to information
• Canada
• Caroline Maynard
• government reform
• transparency
• information commissioner
• public policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Canada, Treasury Board

More episodes of Law Bytes

• Episode 275: David Loukidelis on Why Stripping Privacy Enforcement from Canada’s Privacy Commissioner in Bill C-36 is Unnecessarily Risky Policy · July 6, 2026 · 32 min
• Episode 274: Mark Musselman on What Stakeholders Really Think About the Government’s Reversal of the CRTC Online Streaming Act Decision · June 29, 2026 · 32 min
• Episode 273: Rebroadcast of the Globe and Mail’s The Decibel on Canada’s First Steps Towards a Social Media Ban · June 22, 2026 · 29 min
• Episode 272: Build Canada’s Lucy Hargreaves on Canada’s AI Strategy and the Need to Shift From Being Users to Builders · June 15, 2026 · 35 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Law Bytes podcast page.