Throughout much of Canada’s modern history, its citizens have only known what the federal government has wanted them to know about its decisions and actions. The only exception was when an elected or unelected official leaked information to the public. That changed when the Access to Information Act came into force in 1983. But the legislation was the result of more than 18 years of complaints about government secrecy and demands for openness. The following timeline, which is a work-in-progress, is an account of those 18 years.