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Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2017–18 [PDF 1129 KB]

ISSN 2561-7737

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About the National Energy Board

The National Energy Board is an independent federal regulator of several parts of Canada’s energy industry. It regulates pipelines, energy development and trade in the public interest with safety as its primary concern. The Minister of Natural Resources is responsible for this organization‎.

The National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) was established by Parliament to regulate, among other things, the construction, operation and abandonment of pipelines that cross provincial or international borders, international power lines and designated interprovincial power lines, imports of natural gas and exports of crude oil, natural gas liquids, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and electricity, and oil and gas exploration and production activities in certain areas. The NEB is also charged with providing timely, accurate and objective information and advice on energy matters.

For more information about the NEB please visit our website.

The Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (the Act) gives the Canadian public a right to access information contained in federal government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

In accordance with section 72 of the Act, the head of every federal institution is required to submit an Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year. The Annual Reports are then tabled in Parliament pursuant to section 72 of the Act. This report describes how the National Energy Board (NEB) fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the fiscal year 2017–2018.

Tabling of the annual report

This annual report is prepared and is tabled in Parliament in accordance with section 72 of the Act.

1. Statistical Report and Interpretation

I. Requests received under the Access to Information Act

In 2017–18, the NEB received 112 requests under the Act (86 fewer requests than the previous reporting period).

The NEB also processed 104 informal requests during the reporting period. A total of 96 informal requests were for previously released packages under the Act identified on the “Completed Access to Information Requests” page of the NEB website.

Pages Processed

For requests closed during the reporting period, the NEB processed a total of 24,979 pages and disclosed 16,983 pages to requesters. This represents a 44-percent decrease in the number of pages processed from fiscal year 2016–17.

Other federal government agencies and departments also consulted the NEB on 49^ occasions on which the records under their control related to NEB activities. The NEB processed 675 pages for these consultations.

II. Source of requests

The NEB observed a decrease in the number of requests received. The most frequent types of requesters in 2017–18 were media (73 percent), followed by business (12 percent), the public (11 percent), academia (2 percent), and organizations (2 percent).

Sources of Requests
Source of Requests
Year Media Public Academia Business Organization
2017–18 82 12 2 14 2
2016–17 147 32 0 12 7
2015–16 33 16 1 3 4
2014–15 24 17 4 16 7
2013–13 21 21 2 31 22

III. Disposition of closed requests

In 2017–18, the NEB closed 147 requests. This represents a decrease from the 160 requests closed in 2016–17. Of the 147 requests closed during the reporting period, records for 17 were disclosed fully, while records for 102 were disclosed in part. There was only 1 request for which relevant records were exempted in their entirety. Of the remaining 27 requests, 7 were abandoned by the applicant and 20 had no records associated with them.

Workload

IV. Exemptions or exclusions invoked

Most of the exemptions invoked by the NEB in 2017–18 fell under three sections of the Act: subsection 19(1), which protects personal information; paragraphs 21(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d), which protect advice, recommendations and the deliberation process of public servants; and section 23, which protects solicitor-client privileged information.

V. Completion time

VI. Extensions

Section 9 of the Act permits an extension of statutory time limits under certain circumstances. In 2017–18, the NEB invoked extensions on 91 occasions. In 3 of these cases, an extension was required to conduct third-party notifications. In 21 of these cases, an extension was required for consultation within a government institution, with other government institutions or with other levels of government. A further 67 extensions were invoked since searches through large volumes of records made it impossible to meet the original timelines without interfering with NEB operations. All of the extensions, with the exception of 1 file, were for 120 days or less.

Completion Time

VIII. Costs

During 2017–18, the NEB Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office incurred $507,306 in salary costs and $24,090 in goods and services costs to administer the Act.

See annex A for further statistical information.

2. Practices and procedures

I. NEB Structure

Access to information requests at the NEB are processed by the ATIP Office, which reports to the Vice President, Projects, as the ATIP Coordinator.

Access to information requests are initially received by the Information Management & Architecture Team’s Records department and forwarded to the ATIP Office. ATIP Office staff then process the requests in consultation with appropriate offices of primary interest and with external parties, where necessary.

The NEB has 6 full-time employees dedicated to access to information activities.

II. NEB ATIP Training

The NEB promotes access to information through in-person meetings, presentations, learning products, on the NEB’s intranet and through its training programs. It fosters responsible working relationships with clients and operates under clearly defined timelines.

During 2017–18, the NEB continued to require that all NEB staff and contractors successfully pass the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals – I015 course offered by the Canadian School of Public Service (CSPS). During this reporting period, there were 83 NEB employees who successfully completed said course which, combined with the 420 NEB employees who completed the course in 2016–17, represents approximately 92% of all NEB employees and contractors employed during the previous 2 fiscal years. Efforts will continue to ensure all staff have completed this course.

Training on the provision of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act was also offered by the ATIP Office which delivers both specialized training to respond to the needs of officers and clients, and general training to raise employees’ awareness of their responsibilities under these Acts. In this regard, the NEB undertook to review its Access to Information training materials (i.e. tasking email, PowerPoint presentation, ATIP Tips Sheet, etc.) to improve its training and communications with NEB leadership and staff.

The NEB further continued to implement its “ATIP Tip of the Week” initiative, started in 2016–17, where each week a new ATIP tip was posted on the screensaver of all NEB staff as a means to train and remind them of ATIP best practices and their obligations under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The NEB has also undertaken to review its internal privacy breach procedures and practices towards ensuring NEB staff are aware of their obligations in the event of a privacy breach. These updated procedures and practices are expected to be fully implemented during the 2018–19 reporting period.

The NEB ATIP officers received training by attending to numerous training conferences/webinars offered by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Information and Privacy Policy Department, as well as attending the Canadian Access and Privacy Association yearly conference held in Ottawa in November 2017.

III. NEB Policies

Documentation and training materials on the NEB ATIP program are available through the corporate intranet, along with links to other materials, such as the acts, Treasury Board Secretariat policies and guidance documents, and a range of information management and guidance tools. The NEB did not implement any new policies, guidelines or procedures during the reporting period, but rather continued applying new initiatives from the previous reporting period.

In 2017–18, the NEB also undertook a comprehensive review of its ATIP procedures. This was an effort to enable continuous improvement and to identify opportunities for efficiencies in processing access to information and privacy requests. The ATIP Office will begin implementing new processes in fiscal year 2018–19.

As an organization that values openness and transparency, the NEB also strives to ensure that information is made publicly available without recourse to the Act. Exceptions to public access to information are limited and specific, as required by the legislation.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office continued to support the enhancement of the NEB’s proactive disclosure of information to the public. The goal is to provide all relevant information related to the Board activities in a manner that is clear and transparent.

The type information that is now publicly available on NEB’s website includes (among others):

  • Inspection and audit reports;
  • Inspection Officer Orders and incident investigation reports;
  • Corrective Action Plans;
  • Pipeline performance dashboard;
  • Online interactive pipeline incident map;
  • Energy commodity visualizations.

The NEB also goes beyond Treasury Board Secretariat requirements by posting, via the Open Government portal and its own external website, the verbatim summaries of all completed access to information requests processed by the ATIP Office. This policy was adopted by the NEB to ensure it meets the highest standards of transparency.

3. Delegation of authority

The Governor in Council has designated the NEB Chair and CEO with the authority to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Access to Information Act. However, the Chair and CEO has historically delegated said authority.

The Chair and CEO delegated this authority to the Executive Vice-President, Transparency and Strategic engagement in September 2016. In November 2017, a new delegation order was signed delegating authority to the Vice-President, Projects to exercise the powers, duties and functions under the Access to Information Act.

See annex B for a copy of the delegation orders.

4. Compliance

The NEB achieved a compliance rating of approximately 68% for completed Access to Information requests closed within the legislated timeframe in 2017–18. This represents a decrease from NEB’s completion rating of 77% in the previous fiscal year.

This result is mainly explained by a lingering effect of the significant increase of requests received during the previous reporting period. In 2016–17, 198 requests were received. This represented a 247% increase from the number of requests received in 2015–16.

5. Complaints and appeals to the Federal Court

During 2017–18, there were 80 new complaints registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

The Office of the Information Commissioner issued findings and recommendations regarding 32 complaints during 2017–18. Of those findings, 10 complaints were abandoned or discontinued, 5 complaints were recommended as well founded, and 10 complaints were acknowledged as resolved without any recommendation from the Office of the Information Commissioner or requiring any further actions by the NEB.

For the complaints that were ruled well founded, the NEB followed and applied the Office of the Information Commissioner’s recommendations, namely by disclosing information which had been exempted under the Act.

As always, the NEB will continue to work closely with the Office of the Information Commissioner to resolve the remaining ongoing complaints in a timely and efficient manner.

No appeals were made to the Federal Court of Canada during 2017–18.

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Annex A – Statistical information

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution:National Energy Board of Canada

Reporting period: 2017-04-01 to 2018-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests
1.1 Number of requests
  Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 112
Outstanding from previous reporting period 47
Total 159
Closed during reporting period 147
Carried over to next reporting period 12
1.2 Sources of requests
1.2 Sources of requests
Source Number of Requests
Media 82
Academia 2
Business (private sector) 14
Organization 2
Public 12
Decline to Identify 0
Total 112
1.3 Informal requests
1.3 Informal requests
Completion Time
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
82 17 5 0 0 0 0 104

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 Disposition and completion time
2.1 Disposition and completion time
Disposition of Requests Completion Time
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
All disclosed 1 4 3 6 3 0 0 17
Disclosed in part 3 19 17 17 21 20 5 102
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No records exist 6 12 1 0 1 0 0 20
Request transferred 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 7
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 14 38 21 23 25 21 5 147
2.2 Exemptions
2.2 Exemptions
Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests
13(1)(a) 0 16(2) 5 18(a) 0 20.1 0
13(1)(b) 0 16(2)(a) 0 18(b) 2 20.2 0
13(1)(c) 0 16(2)(b) 8 18(c) 0 20.4 0
13(1)(d) 0 16(2)(c) 0 18(d) 0 21(1)(a) 56
13(1)(e) 0 16(3) 0 18.1(1)(a) 0 21(1)(b) 52
14 0 16.1(1)(a) 0 18.1(1)(b) 0 21(1)(c) 8
14(a) 1 16.1(1)(b) 0 18.1(1)(c) 0 21(1)(d) 14
14(b) 0 16.1(1)(c) 0 18.1(1)(d) 0 22 6
15(1) 0 16.1(1)(d) 0 19(1) 77 22.1(1) 0
15(1) – I.A.Table Note a 0 16.2(1) 0 20(1)(a) 0 23 37
15(1) – Def.Table Note a 0 16.3 0 20(1)(b) 14 24(1) 1
15(1) – S.A.Table Note a 0 16.4(1)(a) 0 20(1)(b.1) 0 26 1
16(1)(a)(i) 0 16.4(1)(b) 0 20(1)(c) 14  
16(1)(a)(ii) 0 16.5 0 20(1)(d) 6
16(1)(a)(iii) 0 17 6  
16(1)(b) 1  
16(1)(c) 5
16(1)(d) 0
2.3 Exclusions
2.3 Exclusions
Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests
68(a) 4 69(1) 0 69(1)(g) re (a) 0
68(b) 0 69(1)(a) 0 69(1)(g) re (b) 0
68(c) 0 69(1)(b) 0 69(1)(g) re (c) 0
68.1 0 69(1)(c) 0 69(1)(g) re (d) 0
68.2(a) 0 69(1)(d) 0 69(1)(g) re (e) 0
68.2(b) 0 69(1)(e) 0 69(1)(g) re (f) 0
  69(1)(f) 0 69.1(1) 0

2.4 Format of information released

2.4 Format of information released
Disposition Paper Electronic Other Formats
All disclosed 11 6 0
Disclosed in part 27 75 0
Total 38 81 0
2.5 Complexity
2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
Disposition of Requests Number of Pages Processed Number of Pages Disclosed Number of Requests
All disclosed 700 700 7
Disclosed in part 24,256 16,283 102
All exempted 23 0 1
All excluded 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 7
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0
2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
Disposition Less Than
100 Pages
Processed
101-500
Pages Processed
501-1000
Pages Processed
1001-5000
Pages Processed
More Than
5000 Pages
Processed
Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed
All disclosed 16 495 1 205 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 61 1,611 33 5,847 3 1,993 5 6,832 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 85 2106 34 6052 3 1993 5 6832 0 0
2.5.3 Other complexities
2.5.3 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation Required Assessment of Fees Legal Advice Sought Other Total
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 1
Disclosed in part 15 0 12 4 31
All exempted 0 0 1 1 2
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0
Total 16 0 13 5 34
2.6 Deemed refusals
2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline Principal Reason
Workload External Consultation Internal Consultation Other
47 47 0 0 0
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
Number of Days Past Deadline Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken Number of Requests Past Deadline Where An Extension Was Taken Total
1 to 15 days 0 5 5
16 to 30 days 0 2 2
31 to 60 days 0 6 6
61 to 120 days 2 14 16
121 to 180 days 0 7 7
181 to 365 days 4 6 10
More than 365 days 0 1 1
Total 6 41 47
2.7 Requests for translation
2.7 Requests for translation
Translation Requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Part 3: Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Disposition of Requests
Where an Extension Was Taken
9(1)(a)
Interference With Operations
9(1)(b)
Consultation
9(1)(c)
Third-Party Notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 7 0 4 0
Disclosed in part 56 0 17 3
All exempted 1 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0
No records exist 3 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0
Total 67 0 21 3
3.2 Length of extensions
3.2 Length of extensions
Length of Extensions 9(1)(a)
Interference With Operations
9(1)(b)
Consultation
9(1)(c)
Third-Party Notice
Section 69 Other
30 days or less 10 0 9 0
31 to 60 days 12 0 4 3
61 to 120 days 44 0 8 0
121 to 180 days 1 0 0 0
181 to 365 days 0 0 0 0
365 days or more 0 0 0 0
Total 67 0 21 3

Part 4: Fees

Part 4: Fees
Fee Type Fee Collected Fee Waived or Refunded
Number of Requests Amount Number of Requests Amount
Application 136 $680 11 $55
Search 0 $0 0 $0
Production 0 $0 0 $0
Programming 0 $0 0 $0
Preparation 0 $0 0 $0
Alternative format 0 $0 0 $0
Reproduction 0 $0 0 $0
Total 136 $680 11 $55

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations
5.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations
Consultations Other Government of Canada Institutions Number of Pages to Review Other Organizations Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period 48 654 0 0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 1 21 0 0
Total 49 675 0 0
Closed during the reporting period 47 663 0 0
Pending at the end of the reporting period 2 12 0 0
5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions
5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions
Recommendation Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
Disclose entirely 32 6 0 0 0 0 0 38
Disclose in part 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 9
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 36 11 0 0 0 0 0 47
5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations
5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government organizations
Recommendation Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
1 to 15 Days 16 to 30 Days 31 to 60 Days 61 to 120 Days 121 to 180 Days 181 to 365 Days More Than 365 Days Total
Disclose entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclose in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

6.1 Requests with Legal Services
6.1 Requests with Legal Services
Number of Days Fewer Than
100 Pages
Processed
101-500 Pages
Processed
501-1000 Pages
Processed
1001-5000 Pages
Processed
More Than
5000 Pages
Processed
Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed Number of Requests Pages Disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
Number of Days Fewer Than
100 Pages
Processed
101-500 Pages
Processed
501-1000 Pages
Processed
1001-5000 Pages
Processed
More Than
5000 Pages
Processed
Number of Requests Pages
Disclosed
Number of Requests Pages
Disclosed
Number of Requests Pages
Disclosed
Number of Requests Pages
Disclosed
Number of Requests Pages
Disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations
Section 32 Section 35 Section 37 Total
80 95 32 207

Part 8: Court Action

Part 8: Court Action
Section 41 Section 42 Section 44 Total
0 0 0 0

Part 9: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

9.1 Costs
9.1 Costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $501,071
Overtime $6,235
Goods and Services $24,090
  • Professional services contracts
$0  
  • Other
$24,090
Total $531,396
9.2 Human Resources
9.2 Human Resources
Resources Person Years Dedicated to
Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees 5.57
Part-time and casual employees 0.10
Regional staff 0.00
Consultants and agency personnel 0.00
Students 0.00
Total 5.57

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

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Annex B – Delegation Order

Access to Information Act Designation Replacement Order

The Chair and CEO of the National Energy Board (the Board), pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act (the Act) hereby replaces the Access to Information Act Designation Replacement Order made on the 1st day of February 2013, at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta by the following text.

The Chair and CEO of the Board, pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information ActNote 1 hereby designates the person holding the position of Executive Vice President, Transparency and Strategic Engagement to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Chair and CEO as head of a government institution under the Act.

Dated at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta, this 1st day of September 2016.

______________________________
Peter Watson
Chair and CEO

Access to Information Act Designation Replacement Order

The Chair and CEO of the National Energy Board (the Board), pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act (the Act) hereby replaces the Access to Information Act Designation Replacement Order made on the first day of September, 2016, at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta by the following text.

The Chair and CEO of the Board, pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information ActNote 2 hereby designates the person holding the position of Vice President, Projects to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Chair and CEO as head of a government institution under the Act.

Dated at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta, this 6th day of November 2017.

______________________________
Peter Watson, FCAE
Chair and CEO

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