Department of Justice Canada: The Charter Statement for Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, 2026Not registered
2 Sept 2026 · Access to Information Act
15 Sept: fee waiver refused, in words identical to two other requests. No file number. Complaint to the Information Commissioner, file 5826-04320.
Request under the Access to Information Act — records concerning the Charter Statement for Bill C-22 (Lawful Access Act, 2026)
Hello,
I make this request under section 6 of the Access to Information Act. I am a Canadian resident and I request access to the following records held by the Department of Justice.
1. All records created in the course of the examination of Bill C-22 under section 4.1 of the Department of Justice Act and in the preparation of the Charter Statement tabled on 24 April 2026, including drafts, analyses, legal risk assessments, comments and approvals, dated between 1 September 2025 and 24 April 2026.
2. All records that address the application of R. v. Spencer, 2014 SCC 43, to any provision of Bill C-22, including the provision that became subsection 487.0195(3) of the Criminal Code and the confirmation of service demand under section 487.0121, dated between 1 September 2025 and the date this request is processed.
3. All records that address the application of R. v. Bykovets, 2024 SCC 6, to any provision of Bill C-22, in the same period.
4. All records that explain, direct or approve the content of the Charter Statement for Bill C-22, including any decision or instruction concerning which judicial decisions were to be cited or omitted, in the same period.
5. All records that address the compatibility with section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the receipt by a peace officer or public officer of information provided by a service provider because that provider is required to provide it by the law of a foreign state, in the same period.
6. All records that identify the safeguards said to be maintained in respect of the new section 22.07 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, including any analysis of dual criminality, of grounds of refusal, and of the human rights record of a requesting state, in the same period.
7. All records showing the reason for the interval of 43 days between the introduction of Bill C-22 on 12 March 2026 and the tabling of its Charter Statement on 24 April 2026, including any record of a request to expedite or to delay the tabling.
I request the records in electronic format.
Fees. I am without income and I am unable to pay the application fee. I request a waiver of the fee under subsection 11(6) of the Access to Information Act. The records concern the constitutional analysis of a bill that regulates the disclosure of information about every resident of Canada, and the public benefit of their release is direct. If the waiver is refused, I ask to be advised in writing of the refusal, the reason for it, and the method of payment, and I will pay the 5.00 dollar fee.
I require registration of this request on the date of its receipt. Where the Department holds no record answering any numbered item above, I require a written statement to that effect for that item.
The name and title of an officer or employee of a government institution on a document prepared by that person in the course of employment is not personal information under paragraph 3(j) of the Privacy Act. I require that such names and titles be released and not severed.
A refusal to register this request until a fee is paid, an absence of a file number, or an absence of a decision on the waiver request will be placed before the Information Commissioner of Canada.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban