Kudos for LAC

You may have seen news of a report from the interim Access to Information Commissioner on government compliance with the Access to Information Act. Canadian Heritage, the department with which Library and Archives Canada is associated, received a dismal "F" grade.

However, the Commissioner made a special point of singling out Library and Archives Canada which received a strong report card in 2007–2008. It noted that LAC had reduced its reliance on lengthy time extensions for consulting with National Defence and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In view of this good performance LAC was not selected for this year’s report card process.

This is a good example of the application of "what gets measured gets done." Suppose there were a Service Commissioner to look routinely at how well organizations deliver on their mandated services. In a fixed budget environment is LAC's focus on Access to Information being achieved at the expense of other routine service?