EDMONTON – Alberta’s access to information watch dog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules.
A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta’s government has implemented internal procedures and policy that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests.
It says the government has put unnecessary restrictions and limitations on requests in an attempt to make fulfilling them easier.
But McLeod says the restrictions make the process unfair for those seeking information and violate the rules set out in legislation.
McLeod’s report follows a two-year investigation and says all 27 government departments were found to be at fault.
The report recommends the government make a number of changes to its internal policies to stop refusing requests unnecessarily.
The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.
