加拿大是世界上赋予公民对政府的情报具有知情权, 并同时在法律上制定有情报公开法的国家之一。从一个非常传统、保守的国家一跃而成为情报公开的先进国家, 加拿大走过了一条艰辛和漫长的道路。探讨加拿大情报公开制度立法的发展过程, 将不仅有利于我们了解该国围绕这一法律过程所出现的一些反映在思想和政策方面的变化, 同时通过对这些变化过程的分析, 亦可以对我国在情报公开制度的立法方面提供有益的参考和借鉴。

Canada is one of the countries in which the Act of Open Information has been enacted. The Canadian people have a right, according to law, to ask for their government to open public policy information to them. Canadians, actually, have had their long and hard stories in struggling for opening information, but now Canada has become advanced in opening information in the world from a typically conservative and conventional country. The case is not only helpful for us to understand Canadian changes in government policies, public opinion and media when formulating the Act, but also very useful for our reference when we are to set up a Chinese system of opening information.