The Tories are blocking and delaying access-to-information requests in spite of the prime minister's campaign promise to create a more open and accountable government, says the head of an independent watchdog agency.

Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch, which monitors such requests, told CBC News that Stephen Harper has failed to make the 40 changes to improve the Access to Information Act that the Tories proposed while campaigning for this year's January general election.

"They followed through partially on only one change and have been practising the same old delay and denial," he said in an interview. "The public has already paid for the creation of the information, and they're paying for the management of it."

Conacher would like to see every piece of information available at low cost within 30 days. He cited examples of rejected access requests that came with huge search fees as proof of a system that the public should find appalling.

Facing access roadblocks

The CBC faced access roadblocks when it requested information in June to find out why the government cancelled a contract with a property management firm in 2004.

It heard back from the Department of Public Works near the end of October.

The government said the request would require 4,000 hours of search time by one person — essentially a two-year wait. It also said the information would cost $43,280 because all documents from 2004 were in boxes stored in the basement of the public works building.

The CBC was told none of the information was accessible by computer, and has since filed a complaint about the cost of its access request.

In April, information commissioner John Reid attacked proposed changes to the Access to Information Act, calling it "a bureaucrat's dream," and accused the new Tory government of doing "exactly the things for which its predecessor had been ridiculed."

Mike Wallace, a Conservative MP who's on the all-party ethics committee, has called on the justice minister to table a new bill by December. He said he has yet to hear back from the justice minister.