Access to Information Act (R.S.C. 1985, c A-1).

The present Act lays down provisions relating to the right of access to information under the control of the Government of Canada. In particular, the purpose of the Act is to extend the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government. Section 4 establishes that subject to this Act, but notwithstanding any other Act of Parliament, every person who is: a) a Canadian citizen, or b) a permanent resident has a right to and shall, on request, be given access to any record under the control of a government institution. Section 20 deals specifically with the access to environmental testing and to the right to have access to such information on behalf of the citizens. The text consists of 77 sections.