Do I have the right to know what information the CSC has in my file?
If you, your lawyer, or someone else who has your permission makes a request in writing for your own information, it must be provided in accordance with the Privacy Act⁸⁴ and the Access to Information Act.⁸⁵ The CSC is “obligated to share information with [the prisoner] that is relevant to his/her case”.⁸⁶ (Please It claims to “make every effort” to provide prisoners with “informal access” to their files, where “authorised by law”.⁸⁷ However, if the 30-day time period the CSC formally has to give you information would “unreasonably interfere with the operation” of the prison, the time period may be extended to 60 days.

The information that the CSC generally believes should be shared with you is:

• Information you have provided;
• Publicly available information;
• Opinions expressed by the CSC, other federal employees, members of the National Parole Board (NPB), or contracted agency employees about your needs, attitudes, behaviours, etc., as long as there are no reasonable grounds to believe it would jeopardize the safety of any person; and
• Locked documents in the Offender (sic) Management System (OMS), excluding victim and preventative security information.⁸⁸

Somewhat ironically, a possible exception may be medical or psychological assessments. Under the Privacy Act, the warden may deny access to personal information relating to physical or mental health when reviewing this information would not be in your best interests.⁸⁹ (Please Also according to the Privacy Act, it is the warden who decides whether providing access to this information would be against your best interests. There is no suggestion that a physician’s input should be sought in making this decision.

The CCRA offers some protection, however. It says that on request, you must be given access to the same information as would be disclosed under access and privacy legislation, including psychological information.⁹⁰

Can any other types of information be withheld from me?
Yes. If the CSC believes that giving you information about yourself would jeopardise either the safety of individuals, the security of a penitentiary, or the conduct of any lawful investigation, it may withhold that information.⁹¹ However, various Commissioner’s Directives (CDs) stipulate how much reason the CSC has to have in order to withhold the information you want.