Alberta's NDP government is defending its handling of access to information requests.

A government e-mail obtained by CBC News, through a freedom of information (FOIP) request, reveals that a senior civil servant ordered junior FOIP officers in January to provide the minister's office with a copy of all records requested by journalists and opposition politicians.

The Wildrose opposition and freedom of information experts worry that identifying requests made by the news media and opposition MLAs is political. Singling out such applicants, they say, opens the door to political staff meddling in the processing of access to information requests by non-partisan civil servants.

The NDP government says it's standard practice to send copies of finalized access requests to the minister's office for "information purposes."

Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Monday that minister's offices are given a heads up after FOIP packages have been approved, so if there are follow-up questions, staff are prepared to answer them.

"We are not asked our opinions on FOIPs going out, we're only told what's happening, not asked whether we're OK with it," Ganley told reporters.

CBC News's freedom of information request to Alberta Justice did not identify the applicant as a journalist. The journalist who made the request used a home address and a personal e-mail.

It's not clear how the bureaucrat handling the CBC's request knew the requester was a journalist in order to comply with the senior civil servant's request that copies of all FOIP applications from the news media be sent to the minister's office.

Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled in 2001 that the province's Freedom of Information and Privacy Act prohibits a person from revealing the identity of an applicant to other government officials who do not need to know that information.

The person at the centre of that case requested records about his or her employment with the City of Calgary.

A city official who processed the request testified that she was "pressured to disclose the identity of the applicant to other fellow employees, but refused to do so."

The information commissioner at the time, Robert Clark, concluded that an access request is considered "personal information" under the Act.

"[T]he Act," concluded Clark, "prohibits a person from revealing the identity of an applicant to a fellow employee who does not need to know that information."

Alberta's independent information and privacy commissioner, Jill Clayton, blasted Rachel Notley's government for a "lack of respect" for freedom of information in February, and last year's annual report by the commissioner warned that Alberta's access to information system is approaching a "crisis situation."

Chronic staff shortages, delays in handling requests and accusations of political interference have plagued the system aimed at providing Albertans access to records held by public bodies.