New federal statistics show a sharp decline in Canadians’ use of the Access to Information Act, with requests falling by more than a third over two years, even as government spending on processing requests hit a record $118 million. Service has worsened, with legal deadlines missed more than 35 per cent of the time and over a quarter of completed requests yielding no information, likely discouraging citizens from filing at all. Despite steady use by the media, the government appears resistant to reform, is moving to curb the information commissioner’s powers, and has stalled a mandatory review of the law, further weakening public accountability.