Canada. Office of the Information Commissioner : The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) is an independent public body created by the Access to Information Act (S.C. 1980-81-82-83 c.111 s.1 s.1; assented to 7 July 1982).
The Information Commissioner is mandated to receive and investigate complaints from individuals and organizations who believe that federal institutions have not respected their rights under the Access to Information Act. The role of the Information Commissioner is modeled on that of an ombudsman, in the sense that the Commissioner may not order a complaint resolved in a particular way. Nevertheless, when it comes to compelling evidence in the course of her or his investigation of a complaint, the Information Commissioner has similar powers as a judge. If the Information Commissioner finds that a complaint is founded, he or she will attempt to mediate a resolution. If a mediated resolution is not possible, reports and recommendations are sent to the Minister or head of the institution. The Information Commissioner may ask for a Federal Court review, if she or he believes an individual has been improperly denied access and a negotiated solution has proved impossible.
The Information Commissioner is appointed by Governor in Council for a term of seven years upon the recommendation of Parliament. The Information Commissioner reports directly to Parliament, and ranks and has all the powers of a deputy head of a department. The first Information Commissioner, Inger Hansen, was appointed 2 June 1983. Subsequent Information Commissioners included John W. Grace (served 1990-1998), John M. Reid (served 1998-2006), Robert Marleau (served 2007-2009), and Suzanne Legault (served 2010- ) [current to January 2012].
The OIC supports the work of the Information Commissioner. The OIC first opened 1 July 1983; for the first decade the Offices of the Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner shared physical space and administrative support services. Activities of the staff of the OIC include: carrying out investigations and dispute-resolution efforts to resolve complaints; representing the Commissioner in court cases; and providing legal advice on investigations and legislative matters. Since the 1990s the Office has also produced report cards monitoring federal institutions' performances under the Act.
Effective 1 April 2007, with the passage of the Federal Accountability Act, an additional 70 institutions became subject to the Access to Information Act, bringing the number of government institutions subject to the Act to more than 250. At that time, the OIC itself also became subject to the Access to Information Act; since OIC could not plausibly investigate complaints about itself, a new position of OIC Commissioner Ad hoc was created solely to receive and investigate complaints about the OIC under the Access to Information Act. The first Commissioner Ad hoc was Peter Cory, who was supported by an office staff of two: one investigator, and one support staff member. Since, the position of Ad hoc Information Commissioner has been held in turn by W. Andrew MacKay, Mario Dion, and John Sims [current to January 2012].
