Note: This article has been edited from a previously published version to correctly indicate it was the Canadian International Development Agency that said it would take 455 days to provide records about Ottawa's polio campaign in Afghanistan.

OTTAWA–A secretive Conservative government shares the blame for an access-to-information system that is dogged with delays and on the brink of "crisis," a scathing report says.

Information Commissioner Robert Marleau issued a hard-hitting condemnation yesterday of Ottawa's "risk-averse, disclosure-averse" atmosphere that denies Canadians the information they're entitled to about the workings of the federal government.

And he singled out the Conservatives' "stranglehold in the centre on communications" and challenged Ottawa's "tendency to withhold information."

"It will take the leadership of the government to change and turn this around. No amount of my barking or biting is going to change that," Marleau said.

"I think it's important this government make crystal clear what its intentions are on transparency."

The Conservative government came to power in 2006, in part on a promise to reform outdated access-to-information laws and make Ottawa more open and accountable.

But yesterday, Marleau was forced to appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to follow U.S. President Barack Obama's lead and send a clear message that open government is a priority.

"Public servants do want to serve Canadians, and when they hear it from the Prime Minister that it is a priority to be more transparent and be more diligent in the disclosure of information, it would have a considerable impact."

Treasury Board President Vic Toews, who is responsible for the file, refused to talk to reporters yesterday. In the Commons, he boasted that the Conservatives made Crown corporations open to information requests, but he sidestepped questions about the long delays plaguing the system.

Under legislation first introduced in the mid-1980s, Canadians can pay $5 to request information from federal agencies.

But in his 156-page report, Marleau noted how requests frequently become bogged down in delays that stretch upward of 100 days. He said filling information requests within 30 days – the statutory guideline – has become the "exception."

He said the intent of the law – to force federal departments to disclose information about their operations – is being undermined by overburdened, poorly trained staff and apathy at the highest levels of government.

Marleau surveyed 10 federal institutions in how they responded to access to information requests during the 2007-08 fiscal year and judged that six performed "below average."

The defence department, Foreign Affairs, Public Works and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ranked among the worst performers of the departments surveyed. Foreign Affairs took, on average, 132 days to meet requests. Public Works took an average of 126 days.

Marleau noted how the defence department established a so-called "tiger" team to vet all access requests related to Canada's military mission in Afghanistan, even though it meant delays of a month and more. "They were part of the difficulty in the early, timely disclosure of information about Afghanistan," he said.

But those delays continue. Just this week, the Canadian International Development Agency told the Star it would take 455 days to provide records about Ottawa's polio campaign in Afghanistan.

The commissioner said while departments are well within their rights to ask to extensions past the 30 days, "those extensions are getting longer and longer and longer ... and I don't think it is reasonable" when it takes up to 180 days for information to be made available.

Marleau noted that besides the barrage of complaints to his office about excessive delays, he also hears from people complaining about excessive fees.

The opposition parties are threatening to unite to force the government to live up to the letter of the access to information law.

Already the New Democrats have a private member's bill before Parliament calling for sweeping changes.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East) said Canada was once a "beacon" for openness and transparency but "that light has ... been extinguished."

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"Mr. Harper's government has decided to become less transparent and more focused on constraining information. ... It is virtually impossible to get information," McTeague said.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) said the bill he introduced this week is the same legislation Harper promised before he took power.

"It could be the single most important thing we do in this session of Parliament," Martin said.

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