Letter to the National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples – Invitation to participate in the access to information review (May 27, 2022)

May 27, 2022

National Chief Elmer St. Pierre
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
867 St. Laurent Blvd.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1K 3B1
e.stpierre@abo-peoples.org

Dear Chief St. Pierre,

Since former Treasury Board President Duclos invited you to participate in the Access to Information Review in November 2020, the Government of Canada has been advancing work and hearing from many people on the review of the Access to Information Act.

The public feedback received from this process to date was summarized in an interim “What We Heard Report” published in December 2021. I invite you to review this report as well as summaries from workshops and submissions received from participants on our engagement portal (https://atiareview.ca/ati-review).

Indigenous engagement is ongoing, including through an information session that was held on April 27, 2022, for Indigenous individuals and organizations who are interested in participating in the Access to Information Review. To date, my officials have benefited from bilateral meetings with members of your organization and with the Department of Justice, as we are working closely with them on understanding the important linkages between the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act for Indigenous peoples.

During these discussions, different issues have been raised, such as the scope and framing of provisions related to Indigenous governments stemming from the Access to Information Act’ s definition of ‘aboriginal government’, Indigenous data governance and the treatment of information obtained from Indigenous governments, as well as Indigenous peoples access to information issues more broadly.

My officials would be pleased to receive a written submission from your organization should you wish to supplement discussions to date. Our discussions to date, and any other input received during the course of our engagement, will inform an Indigenous-specific “What We Heard Report” to be released in the coming months. I remain available to meet with you to receive the benefit of your views on issues related to access to information, either as part of this process or more generally if these issues emerge as priorities for your organization over time.

Should you or anyone else have any questions, would like more information about the process, or would like to book a meeting with the Access to Information Review team or my office, the Executive Director of the Access to Information Policy and Performance Division, Jennifer Schofield, can be reached at jennifer.schofield@tbs-sct.gc.ca, to set up a discussion.

I thank you again for the time your officials took to meet with my team.

Yours sincerely,
The Honourable Mona Fortier, P.C., M.P.
c.c.: Jessica Dawson, Director of Governance Support,
i.dawson@abo-peoples.org