Information Commissioner of Canada

Re: Complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act - Department of Justice Canada - refusal of fee waiver on three requests

Hello,

This supplements my complaint of 17 September 2026 against the Department of Justice Canada, made under paragraphs 30 (1) (b) and 30 (1) (f) of the Access to Information Act, concerning the refusal of a fee waiver on 3 requests.

On 18 September 2026 the Department answered. That answer is new material and I put it before the Commissioner.

The Department quotes Chapter 8 of the Access to Information Manual and states that an operations manager, under delegated authority, declined to waive the fees. It does not name the official. It does not identify the order made under section 73 by which the discretion of the head of the institution under subsection 11 (2) was conferred on that position. It reproduces the factors in Chapter 8.3 and the circumstances in Chapter 8.3.1 without applying either to any of the 3 requests, and without saying what the public interest argument was found to lack.

On the same day, 15 September 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada waived the fee on request A-2026-50926 under the same subsection, and Environment and Climate Change Canada confirmed on request A-2026-00235 that no fee has been charged or will be charged.

I ask the Commissioner to obtain from the Department, under section 36, the delegation order made under section 73 and the identity of the official who made each of the 3 decisions.

Respectfully,

Danilo Dzyuban

Re: Re: Complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act - Department of Justice Canada - refusal of fee waiver on three requests

Hello,

This supplements my complaint of 17 September 2026 against the Department of Justice Canada, made under paragraphs 30 (1) (b) and 30 (1) (f), concerning the refusal of the fee waiver on 3 requests.

On 21 September 2026 the department answered the 3 items it had refused on 15 September 2026.

For the delegation order it named a document titled "Annual Report to Parliament 2024-2025: Access to Information Act". An annual report is not the instrument by which the Minister delegates powers under section 73. The department has still not identified the instrument, its date, or the position that holds the delegated power to decide a waiver under subsection 11 (2).

For the reasons it reproduced the list of factors used by the Treasury Board and stated that the criteria are not met. It applied no factor to any fact of my requests, and it named no person who made the decision.

It also directed me to Open Government and to a website operated by a private foundation. Records released to another requester on another request are not access to the records I asked for.

The Commissioner is asked to obtain the delegation instrument in force on 15 September 2026 and the record of the decision on each of the 3 waiver requests.

Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban