I’m a Canadian citizen in Alberta. I made a freedom of information request for some aggregate statistics, and got a response from the agency indicating that the information wouldn’t be available for several months, allegedly due to a “high volume of requests”.

From my perspective, if the information is delivered months after being relevant, it’s the same as denying the request.

In general, it seems like “public institutions” don’t act like they’re beholden to the public. They act just like private institutions whose primary concern is self-preservation.