The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) joins with other information and privacy commissioners from across the country and around the world in promoting Right to Know (RTK) Week from September 25 to October 1, 2023. RTK Week in Canada evolved from International Right to Know Day, September 28, which has been marked around the world since 2002.

RTK Week recognizes the importance of the right of access to information held by government and other public bodies. Access to information is essential to both democracy and good governance, and it provides individuals with the knowledge to address public issues, hold government accountable, and become active participants in the democratic process.

In Newfoundland and Labrador the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015) provides a right of access to information. Since 2015, when citizens demanded that the province’s access to information system be reformed, there has been a continual increase in the number of access to information requests filed each year. While the media, businesses and political parties use the access to information system regularly, individual Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are filing more and more access to information requests. Individuals are now the most engaged in our access to information system, on average making up more than 60% of the requests filed each year. This is extremely positive, reflecting an engaged population and a well-functioning access to information system.

RTK Week also provides us with an opportunity to recognize the hard work of the officials in government departments, agencies, boards and commissions, educational and health care bodies and municipalities, who help process the increasing number of requests.

Having one of the most modern and robust access to information systems, not only in Canada but also worldwide, is an accomplishment for Newfoundland and Labrador of which we can all be justly proud. The priority now is to protect and maintain the principles of accountability and transparency found in our access to information law that members of the public are relying on more and more.

Tune in to hear Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey discuss RTK Week and access to information on CBC’s The Signal, Thursday September 28, 2023, at noon and on VOCM’s News Talk, Thursday September 28, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. Check our social media throughout RTK Week for information about access to information and follow the hashtag #RTK2023.

Commissioner Harvey looks forward to discussing access to information issues with his colleagues from across the country when Federal, Provincial and Territorial Commissioners and Ombuds hold their Annual Meeting in Quebec City, October 3-5, 2023.

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Sean Murray
Director of Research and Quality Assurance
709-729-6309