Open Government Campaign – Democracy Watch

Advocating for stronger laws to end excessive secrecy in Canadian politics!

Canada’s open government laws are weaker than the laws in more than 50 other countries, including the U.S.

Please send your letter now using the form on this page, and please help spread the word by Liking and Tweeting this page.

Key Links

Please download and post on social media or print and post everywhere the I’m Voting for Good Government sign
Call on the politicians that represent you to Make the Democratic Good Government Pledge
Organizations, join the nation-wide Open Government Coalition by signing on to the 7 Recommendations to Strengthen Canada’s Access to Government Information System

Campaign News

More than a year later, Lobbying Commissioner still hiding her rulings on nine violations after RCMP let lobbyists off the hook

October 30, 2025 10:36AM

Federal Cabinet office hiding details that will show PM Carney’s initial ethics screens were loophole-filled, unethical smokescreens

October 16, 2025 10:51AM

Many changes needed to make B.C. elections and political system actually democratic, honest, ethical, open and fair

July 17, 2025 7:45AM

Read all campaign news

Open Government Campaign 1993-2011 archive (archive website)

The Opportunity

The pressure is increasing on governments across Canada to increase transparency and strengthen their freedom of information/access to information laws and enforcement systems. More and more voters are realizing that excessive government secrecy leads to waste of the public’s money, corruption and other abuses of power, including secret deals that protect the interests of big businesses and their multi-millionaire executives instead of protecting the public interest.

Democracy Watch has been campaigning for key open government changes since 1993, but we need your help to win these changes. Please send your letter now to key politicians using the Action Letter on this page.

Top Secret Folder In June 2023, a House Committee report called for several key changes to strengthen the federal open government law, and many recent reports have also called for stronger provincial, territorial and municipal open government laws across Canada.

In December 2024, information commissioners across Canada issued a joint call for key measures to increase government transparency.

All federal political parties made at least some commitments to strengthen the federal open government system before or during the 2025 federal election campaign.

We need your support now to push for key changes to make open government laws across Canada stronger to stop excessive government secrecy. Politicians only make changes to increase their own accountability to the public when they hear from many voters calling for change. Please send your letter on this page now, and please also donate to support this campaign.

Send your letter to key politicians calling for changes to stop excessive secrecy by Canadian politicians, staff and government officials
(See list of politicians below)

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Hello,

I am writing today to call on all governments to strengthen access-to-information laws and systems in the following key areas in order to stop excessive secrecy by politicians, staff, and government officials:

any type of record created by any entity that receives significant funding from or is connected to the government (including all politicians’ offices), or was created by the government and fulfills public interest functions, should be automatically covered by access to information laws and systems (as in the United Kingdom);
all exemptions under access to information law should be discretionary, and limited by a proof of harm test and a public interest override (as in B.C. and Alberta);
the access to information law and system should require every entity covered (as in the United Kingdom, U.S., Australia and New Zealand): to create detailed records for all decisions and actions and factual and policy research; to routinely disclose records that are required to be disclosed online in a searchable database (including the daily work schedule and interactions for all politicians (including Senators at the federal level); to assign responsibility to individuals for the creation and maintenance of each record, and; to maintain each record so that it remains easily accessible;
the access to information law and system should allow anyone who does factual or policy research for the government to speak to the media and publicly about the topic, findings and conclusions of their research without being required to seek approval first from anyone (including their superior, the Privy Council, the Prime Minister, a Cabinet minister, or any ministerial staff person);
severe penalties should be created for not creating records, for not maintaining records properly, and for unjustifiable delays in responses to requests;
the Information Commissioner should be given explicit powers under access to information: to order the release of a record (as in the United Kingdom, Ontario, B.C. and Quebec); to penalize violators of the law with high fines, jail terms, loss of any severance payment, and partial clawback of any pension payments, and; to require systemic changes in government departments to improve compliance (as in the United Kingdom)
establish a fully independent, non-partisan appointments commission (with members, appointed by non-governmental organizations like the Canadian Judicial Council, serving fixed terms of office) to conduct a merit-based search for nominees for Information Commissioner (and all other officers of the legislature) and to present a short list to the Cabinet that the Cabinet has to choose from after at least consulting with all federal party leaders (even better, require that a majority of party leaders approve of the Cabinet’s choice);
the Information Commissioner (and all officers of the legislature) must not be eligible for a renewal of their fixed term in office (to ensure that the commissioner does not act as a lapdog to try to get re-appointed by Cabinet for another term);
funding to the access to information system and enforcement should be increased to solve backlog problems instead of increasing administrative barriers such as limiting requests in any way, and fees for access should be lower overall and standardized for every entity covered by the access to information law and system; and
The legislature must be required to review the access to information open government law every 5 years to ensure that problem areas are corrected.

The nation-wide Open Government Coalition supports these key changes.

Along with the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 31 organizations with a total membership of more than three million Canadians, I also support key changes to require full disclosure of the financial interests of every politician, political staff, Cabinet appointee and any government official with decision-making power, and to close loopholes that allow for secret lobbying.

Similar changes are needed across Canada to provincial, territorial and municipal laws.

Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello,
I am writing today to call on all governments to strengthen access-to-information laws and systems in the following key areas in order to stop excessive secrecy by politicians, staff, and government officials:
<ol>
<li>any type of record created by any entity that receives significant funding from or is connected to the government (including all politicians’ offices), or was created by the government and fulfills public interest functions, should be automatically covered by access to information laws and systems (as in the United Kingdom);</li>
<li>all exemptions under access to information law should be discretionary, and limited by a proof of harm test and a public interest override (as in B.C. and Alberta);</li>
<li>the access to information law and system should require every entity covered (as in the United Kingdom, U.S., Australia and New Zealand): to create detailed records for all decisions and actions and factual and policy research; to routinely disclose records that are required to be disclosed online in a searchable database (including the daily work schedule and interactions for all politicians (including Senators at the federal level); to assign responsibility to individuals for the creation and maintenance of each record, and; to maintain each record so that it remains easily accessible;</li>
<li>the access to information law and system should allow anyone who does factual or policy research for the government to speak to the media and publicly about the topic, findings and conclusions of their research without being required to seek approval first from anyone (including their superior, the Privy Council, the Prime Minister, a Cabinet minister, or any ministerial staff person);</li>
<li>severe penalties should be created for not creating records, for not maintaining records properly, and for unjustifiable delays in responses to requests;</li>
<li>the Information Commissioner should be given explicit powers under access to information: to order the release of a record (as in the United Kingdom, Ontario, B.C. and Quebec); to penalize violators of the law with high fines, jail terms, loss of any severance payment, and partial clawback of any pension payments, and; to require systemic changes in government departments to improve compliance (as in the United Kingdom)</li>
<li>establish a fully independent, non-partisan appointments commission (with members, appointed by non-governmental organizations like the Canadian Judicial Council, serving fixed terms of office) to conduct a merit-based search for nominees for Information Commissioner (and all other officers of the legislature) and to present a short list to the Cabinet that the Cabinet has to choose from after at least consulting with all federal party leaders (even better, require that a majority of party leaders approve of the Cabinet’s choice);</li>
<li>the Information Commissioner (and all officers of the legislature) must not be eligible for a renewal of their fixed term in office (to ensure that the commissioner does not act as a lapdog to try to get re-appointed by Cabinet for another term);</li>
<li>funding to the access to information system and enforcement should be increased to solve backlog problems instead of increasing administrative barriers such as limiting requests in any way, and fees for access should be lower overall and standardized for every entity covered by the access to information law and system; and</li>
<li>The legislature must be required to review the access to information open government law every 5 years to ensure that problem areas are corrected.</li>
</ol>
The nation-wide <a href="http://democracywatch.ca/open-government-coalition/">Open Government Coalition</a> supports these key changes.
Along with the nation-wide Government Ethics Coalition, made up of 31 organizations with a total membership of more than three million Canadians, I also support key changes to require full disclosure of the financial interests of every politician, political staff, Cabinet appointee and any government official with decision-making power, and to close loopholes that allow for secret lobbying.
Similar changes are needed across Canada to provincial, territorial and municipal laws.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible.  I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for sending your letter, and please help keep this campaign going until these key democracy reforms are won. To donate now, please click here.

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Advocating for stronger laws to end excessive secrecy in Canadian politics!

Canada’s open government laws are weaker than the laws in more than 50 other countries, including the U.S.

Key Links

Campaign News

The Opportunity