In a pair of fresh rulings, Canada’s information commissioner is challenging Defence Minister David McGuinty to crack the whip at his department and get his officials to meet their obligations under the federal Access to Information Act.
In one of the judgments, issued last last month, Commissioner Caroline Maynard wrote that she found it “completely unacceptable” that senior officials at the Department of National Defence (DND) refused to respond to two Access to Information requests filed by Global News.
The rulings are the latest in a string of what Maynard has described as “continuing struggles” at DND “to provide timely responses to access requests.” Maynard paid special attention to DND in her 2024-2025 annual report to Parliament.
In the cases that prompted Maynard’s most recent verdicts, Global News filed two access to information requests on Oct. 20, 2025. In both cases, the information commissioner found that not only did the department refuse to release the requested records but that the same assistant deputy minister’s office was the sticking point.
The information commissioner ‘s judgements said that, in both cases, the office of the Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy) — a position held by Scott Millar according to DND’s web site — failed to respond to requests by defence department access-to-information analysts. Other units within DND such as the office of the Vice-Chief of Defence Staff and the Strategic Joint Staff did respond within appropriate timelines, the information commissioner found.
Global News asked McGuinty’s office for comment on Thursday but has yet to receive a response.
Over the last five years, DND has received an average of about 2,300 access-to-information requests per year, according to the department’s 2024-2025 annual report to Parliament on its administration of the Access to Information Act.
Under the Access to Information Act, departments must provide requested records within 30 days of receiving a request. The Act allows departments to extend that deadline if, for example, a large number of records must be reviewed or if the department must first consult with third parties about the release of records. But whenever an extension is taken, the department must inform the requestor in writing.
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DND did not provide Global News with the requested records within 30 days nor claim an extension. As a result, Global News filed a formal complaint with the Information Commissioner, which prompted Maynard’s investigations and judgements.
“DND did not meet its obligation to respond by the legislated time period,” Maynard wrote in both judgements. “DND is deemed to have refused access to the requested records.”
That finding can be a serious one and, in some cases, is the final step before the commissioner’s office takes a government institution to court to force the release of the documents.
In the cases at hand, though, the department’s deputy minister, Christiane Fox, agreed to implement the commissioner’s recommendations and release the requested records within 30 days, according to copies of the judgements provided to Global News.
The first request Global News filed was for the briefing binders prepared by department personnel for meetings McGuinty had with his German and Norwegian counterparts in Ottawa on Oct. 20, 2025. One of the two finalists for a multi-billion dollar contract to build new submarines for Canada’s navy is from a joint German-Norwegian venture and that contract was on the agenda for the meetings of the three defence ministers.
The second request was for the briefing binders prepared for McGuinty as he accompanied the prime minister on a visit to Ukraine, Poland and Latvia last August. Typically, briefing binders prepared for ministers ahead of overseas trips are excellent reference works for journalists and researchers. They often contain biographies of individuals the minister will meet with and an outline of Canada’s position on any issues likely to be discussed or raised on a trip.