The Coordination of Access to Information Requests System (CAIRS) has been axed by the Federal Government “because “extensive” consultations showed it wasn’t valued by government departments.”

CAIRS was was created in 1989 to track Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and co-ordinate responses amongst goverment ministries. It has been used by the media and researchers to locate obscure documents and fine tune subsequent FOI requests. In 2003, the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Information and Security Policy Division (ISPD) renewed it’s interest in CAIRS: “Of continued interest to the ISPD is the Coordination of Access to Information Requests System (CAIRS). The system was created in 1989 and was modernized in 2000 to meet Y2K requirements. Its basic functionality remained relatively unchanged, despite earlier considerations to open the site to the public. The Board is working towards removing the remaining impediments to on-line access, which include removing personal identifiers and respecting official languages requirements.”

Among Justice John Gomery’s recommendations in his report “Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities” was for greater governmental transparency and accountability. I’d call this move by the Federal Government pretty transparent, wouldn’t you?

See: Tories kill access to information database

Government of Canada’s Access to Information Review Task Force

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada