Overview

• New Brunswick’s Liberal government opened a review of its right-to-information act in July, inviting public submissions on strengthening transparency and enforcement.
• The review follows a Centre for Law and Democracy ranking that placed the province’s system among Canada’s weakest last year.
• Under current rules, residents denied documents can appeal to the information commissioner but face costly court battles when agencies ignore non-binding recommendations.
• Transparency advocates led by Toby Mendel are pressing for a Newfoundland and Labrador model that obliges departments to contest binding commissioner orders in court.
• The government’s discussion paper also asks whether broad exemptions should be narrowed and if agencies should proactively release more records without formal requests.