Liberals propose seven-year extension for information commissioner Caroline Maynard

By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press on November 5, 2024.

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard appears as a witness at a Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples at the Senate of Canada Building in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Maynard is slated to answer questions from MPs today on her proposed reappointment.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA – Information commissioner Caroline Maynard is slated to answer questions from MPs today on her proposed reappointment.

The Liberal government recently nominated Maynard to serve another seven-year term.

Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, asked that the nomination be referred to the committee on access to information, privacy and ethics.

Maynard, an ombudsman for users of the federal Access to Information Act, began her current seven-year term on March 1, 2018.

For a $5 fee, people can use the act to request government records ranging from emails and memos to reports and expense claims.

In her most recent annual report, Maynard said that after investigating more than 30,000 complaints, she was reminded every day of the ways in which the act and the system it supports continue to fail Canadians.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.