Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Canada (Information Commissioner): Information Commissioner, CBC, and the Right to Know

Abstract

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ('CBC') is under fire from Canadian Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault ('Information Commissioner') for recent decisions refusing disclosure requests. While it is usually parliamentarians and public servants who are the subject of Ms. Legault’s criticism, it is now CBC who has been put in the hot seat by Ms. Legault. At the heart of this standoff between the Information Commissioner and CBC is a 2010 decision at the Federal Court. In Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Canada (Information Commissioner), 2010 FC 954, at issue was the authority of the Information Commissioner to order the CBC to produce records under the Access to Information Act ('Act').As posted on The Court, Osgoode Hall Law School.