Ottawa — Jean Chrétien's office agendas must be turned over to Information Commissioner John Reid, the Federal Court says in a decision that beats back an attempt by the former prime minister to cloak his activities in secrecy.

[. . . . ] Deciding whether or not to appeal is likely to be an early test of Prime Minister Paul Martin's promise to run a more open and accountable government.

In her ruling, Madam Justice Eleanor Dawson says that the federal Access to Information Act is designed to ensure that "citizens are properly informed so as to be able to participate meaningfully in the democratic process ..... by ensuring that politicians and bureaucrats remain accountable to citizens."

[. . . . ] The act should be interpreted broadly "to provide a meaningful right of access," Judge Dawson says. Most important, the "government itself is not to decide what is exempt from disclosure," she adds.

The ruling does not mean Mr. Chrétien's agendas will automatically be made public. But Mr. Reid and his officials now have a right to examine the documents to see what should be released and what might remain private for reasons of national security or other limited exemptions under the act.

The Chrétien government tried to shut down the Information Commissioner's investigation by challenging his subpoenas to senior officials.

At one point in the lengthy legal battle Mel Cappe, then the clerk of the Privy Council, the top federal bureaucrat, testified that "public servants are not accountable to the public. Public servants are accountable to their ministers."

But Judge Dawson's ruling says the Access to Information Act indeed makes bureaucrats accountable to the public in terms of the documents they write, and that the Information Commissioner has a right to investigate complaints when access to documents is denied.