I’ve Been Waiting for Four Months for Documents in Response to My Access to Information Requests Relating to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan

On August 29, 2007, I filled out the necessary forms and sent cheques for five dollars each to the Privy Council Office, the Department of National Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Canadian International Development Agency to request copies of documents under the terms of the Access to Information Act.

The documents I was seeking concerned communications planning related to the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. Last winter, I published online a thirty thousand word study of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan titled: Mission of Folly: Why Canada should bring its Troops home from Afghanistan. In the spring of 2008, Between-the-Lines, a Toronto publisher, is to publish a revised and updated book version of the study under the same title.

In the new version of Mission of Folly, I have paid particular attention to the role of the federal government and its departments and agencies in communicating the mission to the Canadian people and the world at large. In short, I have focused on the politics of the mission and the ways the government has been involved in promoting the case for the military mission to the public.

For that reason, I sought documents that would bring to light the communications strategy of the government. Let me be clear, in my requests, I sought no documents on Canada’s military strategy, troop deployments or equipment deployment in Afghanistan. Nothing I sought could be interpreted as having anything to do with national security.

Here is the first letter I sent to the Privy Council Office on August 29:



Privy Council Office August 29, 2007
General Enquiries
Room 1000
85 Sparks Street
Ottawa
Canada
K1A 0A3
Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to you to request, under the terms of the Access to Information Act, the receipt of all communications planning documents related to the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. With respect to the mission, I am requesting copies of all strategic public affairs plans and evaluations, all media relations plans and plans for promotional activities related to military recruitment, and/or the promotion among the public of awareness about and support for Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan. I am requesting documents on community outreach initiatives, all relevant public opinion studies and other evaluations of programs, all minutes of meeting related to the subject, all relevant E Mail correspondence, and all plans and reports related to ministerial visits to Afghanistan and to communications prior to, during and following such ministerial visits.

I am requesting copies of all contracts and/or contributions agreements awarded by
the department(s) to firms, organizations or individuals related to
the planning, delivery or assessment of the communications and
community outreach products, programs and activities listed above, as
well as copies of all electronic or written documents and
correspondence pertaining to these contracts and to the subsequent
work undertaken by these parties, including copies of all reports,
presentations, assessments and other documents prepared and submitted
by these firms, organizations or individuals under the terms of their
agreements with the department, and the invoices submitted by these
firms for their related work.

I am addressing these requests as well to: DND, DFAIT, CIDA. Naturally, I am anticipating that you will assist me with the portions that come under your purview.

Thanking you in advance.

Yours sincerely,


James Laxer,



I sent the same letter, appropriately addressed to DND, DFAIT, and CIDA. Under the terms of the Access to Information Act, I was entitled to expect receipt of the documents within thirty days.

In mid October, I received a letter from the Privy Council Office, dated October 10, 2007, which included the following passage:

“The Privy Council Office received the request on September 4, 2007.

In processing your request we have found it necessary to consult other government institutions. As a result, an extension of up to 120 days beyond the 30-day statutory deadline is required to complete your request.

Please be advised that you are entitled to bring a complaint regarding the processing of this request to the Information Commissioner (22nd Floor, 112 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3). The Access to Information Act allows a complaint to be made within sixty days of the receipt of this notice.”

I decided not to bring a complaint in response to the letter, and made the same decision when I received similar letters from the other departments and from CIDA.

In the cases of DND and DFAIT, I received advice that my requests were so broadly conceived that it would take a long time to meet them. In these cases, with the assistance of the relevant officers in the departments, I revised my requests to narrow the scope and cut back the time period for the documents I was seeking. (I also made it clear that if the documents I sought were so extensive that an additional payment would be needed, I would make that payment.)

Here is the letter I sent to DND on October 5 with the revised request:




October 5, 2007

General Inquiries,
Department of National Defence,
National Defence Headquarters,
Major-General George R. Pearkes Building,
101 Colonel By Drive.

Dear (name deleted):

This is a follow up to my earlier request, which as we discussed, is to be divided into two.

This new request, therefore, covers the second paragraph in the original request.

I am requesting copies of all contracts and/or contributions agreements awarded by
DND to firms, organizations or individuals related to
the planning, delivery or assessment of the communications and
community outreach products related to the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. In addition I am requesting copies of all electronic or written documents and
correspondence pertaining to these contracts and to the subsequent
work undertaken by these parties, including copies of all reports,
presentations, assessments and other documents prepared and submitted
by these firms, organizations or individuals under the terms of their
agreements with the department, and the invoices submitted by these
firms for their related work. The time period covered in this request is May 1, 2007 through August 31, 2007.

If, as with the previous request, this request proves to be unworkably broad, I would appreciate it if you would E Mail me with suggested revisions to it.

Thanking you in advance.

Yours sincerely,


James Laxer,


Nearly four months have passed since my initial requests. To date I have received no copies of any of the documents sought.

Mission of Folly will be published, as scheduled in the spring of 2008, but without the benefit of the documents relating to the communications strategy of the government and its departments and agencies.

The officers I have dealt with in each of the departments and at CIDA have been unfailingly responsive, polite and helpful. I do not attribute the unacceptably slow pace of the meeting of my requests to any of them.

The debate about Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is a matter of the greatest importance. Citizens attempting to participate in that debate should not be sidelined with interminable delays when they seek pertinent documents from the federal government.