Information Commissioner of Canada

The letter · 17 September 2026

Complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act - Department of Justice Canada - refusal of fee waiver on three requests

Hello,

This is a complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act against the Department of Justice Canada. It is made under paragraphs 30(1)(b) and 30(1)(f). I am self-represented and I ask that the 3 files below be joined, because one decision disposed of all three.

The three requests.

1. 29 August 2026 - records concerning section 233 of the Criminal Code and differences in sentencing by sex. A clarification was sent on 1 September 2026
2. 2 September 2026 - records concerning the Charter Statement for Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, 2026, including the examination under section 4.1 of the Department of Justice Act
3. 4 September 2026 - records underlying the age of protection, S.C. 2008, c. 6

Each request asked for a waiver of the application fee under subsection 11(2) and stated that I am without income.

What the institution decided.

On 15 September 2026 at 16:18 the ATIP Office of the Department of Justice Canada, Kenneth Nzebo, sent the same text in answer to all three requests. It states: "Please note that the fee associated with your Access to Information request will not be waived. The applicable fee is required to process your request in accordance with the Access to Information Act." It then directs me to Open Government, to a third party website, and to the online request portal, and states: "Please note that there is a $ 5 fee associated to all Access to information requests."

Why it is a breach.

One text answered three different requests. The discretion in subsection 11(2) is conferred on the head of the institution request by request, and a single form answer shows that it was never exercised on any of them.

No reason is given, and no criterion is named. Nothing in the answer addresses my income, the subject matter of any request, or the public interest in the records.

The sentence that there is a fee associated to all requests states that no waiver is available at all. That is the denial of a discretion the Act confers.

No request was registered. No file number, no date of receipt, and no statement of the date on which the 30 days under section 7 began were given for any of the three. Access is being made conditional on payment before the request is entered at all.

The same Act was applied differently elsewhere in the same week. On 15 September 2026 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada waived the fee under subsection 11(2) on my request, file A-2026-50926, by decision of Jeff Eckhardt, Assistant Director, ATIP. On 10 September 2026 Environment and Climate Change Canada granted a waiver on my request A-2026-00235 and confirmed on 15 September 2026 that no fee has been charged or will be charged. I receive social assistance under the Ontario Works Act and it is my only income.

What I ask the Commissioner to do.

Investigate the refusal of the waiver on all three requests and report on whether the discretion under subsection 11(2) was exercised at all.

Recommend that the Department register each of the three requests with a file number and the date of receipt, and that it state that date in writing.

Recommend that the Department decide the waiver on each request on its own facts, with reasons, and with the name and position of the official who decides.

I hold every document named above and will provide copies on request.

Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban