ALL PARTIES RESPOND TO QUESTIONS ABOUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PRIVACY

Party responses show good knowledge of the issues and hope for much-needed reforms, says Campaign Director

May 11, 2009

Vancouver – The B.C. Liberals, NDP, Greens and Conservatives have all responded to a questionnaire on freedom of information and privacy issues sent by the Campaign for Open Government.

“We asked ten detailed questions, and got detailed answers from the four major parties,” said campaign director Darrell Evans. “The time and thought they put into providing answers to these questions shows they have given a lot of thought to FOI and privacy issues, and the responses give us some hope that badly-needed reforms are possible.”

As might be expected, the governing Liberals stand on their record, promising no major new reforms.  However, they point to a recently-announced initiative to centralize the government’s FOI operations and improve response times. ”We believe we can improve responsiveness in measurable ways.” They state.
 
The NDP pledges significant reforms and point to a private member’s bill on FOI reform introduced by environment critic Shane Simpson.

The Greens and Conservatives provided interesting answers, showing a commitment to both open government and privacy.
“The responses are up on the Campaign for Open Government and FIPA websites ,” Evans said.  “We urge everyone concerned about accountability and transparency in government to look them over before voting.”

See Party responses at FIPA website: http://fipa.bc.ca/library/
Law_Reform_Activities/Campaign_for_Open_Government/

Campaign for Open Government website: www.opengovernment.ca

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CONTACT – Darrell Evans: 604-739-9788

NEWS RELEASE

NEW STUDY SHOWS BC'S FOI PERFORMANCE IS EVEN WORSE THAN INFO COMMISSIONER'S REPORT

People often give up: “They wear you down,” says FOI watchdog

May 7, 2009

Vancouver – A study released today by the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association has found that the dire situation of delay and denial outlined by Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis in February is actually a lot worse.

The new study is called FAILING FOI: How the BC Government flouts the Freedom of Information Act and stonewalls FOI requests.  It updates the 2006 FIPA report Access Denied.

“'Failing FOI' is a pretty good description of what the government is doing,” said Campaign for Open Government director Darrell Evans. “They improperly deny FOI requests, flout mandatory deadlines, pass requests back and forth between departments, and generally do their best to waste time while keeping information from the people.”

BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner issued a report in February which slammed the government for having only a 71 percent on-time FOI response rate, which means that 29 percent were considered “deemed refusals” of requests: http://www.oipcbc.org/investigations/reports/F08-35580_Calendar_2008_Report_Card(Feb_2009).pdf

However, the Commissioner’s analysis grouped together both ‘general’ requests and requests by individuals seeking their own personal records.  Requests for personal information, which constitute about 68% of requests, are generally non-controversial and the government has a good record of meeting timelines on these.

The FIPA study selects out the FOI requests for general (non-personal) records, which are made in order to scrutinize government policies and actions and hold the government accountable. The government often considers there is more at stake politically with these requests.

FIPA found that, over the three-year period from 2006 to 2008, the rate at which the government violated statutory timelines for general requests was 51.5%.  And if the 30-day extension of time a ministry can “award” to itself in extraordinary circumstances were removed, almost 60% of general requests would have been deemed refusals.

FIPA also found that the number of FOI requests continued to fall. In 2008 the government received 1793 requests for general information. That compares with 2381 general requests in 2006 (6.6% decline) and 2225 in 2007 (19.4% decline).  Based on complaints received from FOI applicants, we conclude this is because the numerous roadblocks that characterize the FOI process are causing people to give up on the system:

Failing FOI is available at http://fipa.bc.ca/library/Reports_and_Submissions/Failing_FOI-May_2009-FINAL.pdf (See first news item).

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CONTACT – Darrell Evans: 604-739-9788

NEWS RELEASE

BC MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION HAS NO IDEA HOW MANY EMPLOYEES WORK IN FOI

May 4, 2009

Vancouver – The Ministry responsible for the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act across the BC government claims it has no documents stating how many people in the government work on FOI requests.

In March 2008, the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association filed an FOI request with the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services asking for “the number of staff employed in managing and responding to FOI requests in the information and privacy offices of each ministry, for each year from the year 2000 to the present day.”

The Ministry responded to the FOI request by supplying 10 pages of near-unintelligible emails sent between ministries on a single day in November 2007, containing staff figures for two ministries. There are 19 ministries in the BC government.

The response included a statement that these were the only records responsive to the request.

The Ministry’s Service Plan for 2008-09 describes its role as follows:

“Citizens’ Services provides corporate leadership and strategic direction for information management and information technology across government. It is responsible for the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Personal Information Protection Act, the Document Disposal Act, and the Electronic Transactions Act and all policy, standards and directives that flow from them.”

“It is inconceivable to us that the lead department responsible for FOI across the government has no idea how many people actually handle FOI requests,” said FIPA Executive Director Darrell Evans. “You would naturally suspect they were hiding something – but maybe they really don’t know what is going on with FOI, despite what their own Service Plan says.”

This does not bode well for the government’s plan, just announced, to centralize the processing of all FOI requests in a single agency within the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services (MLCS).

The centralization of FOI was part of government’s response to a critical report from Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis.  MLCS was identified as having the second worst performance in the entire BC government. (Only the Premier’s office was slower to respons to access requests.)

The Commissioner’s full report is available at http://www.oipcbc.org/investigations/reports/F08-35580_Calendar_2008_Report_Card(Feb_2009).pdf

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CONTACTS – Vincent Gogolek: 604-318-0031 or Darrell Evans: 604-739-9788 

NEWS RELEASE

HUGE CONTRAST BETWEEN FOI
RESPONSE OF BC PREMIER AND
WASHINGTON GOVERNOR

Governor’s office speedy with FOI
response – Premier’s office, anything but
April 29, 2009

Vancouver – Two identical FOI requests filed on the same day with the offices of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and BC Premier Gordon Campbell got very different results.

The Freedom of Information and Privacy Association filed the requests for information about intergovernmental meetings related to the new RFID equipped drivers’ licences now being phased in across the province. The licences are designed to meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) which will require a passport or other authorized ID to enter the United States starting June 1, 2009.

Governor Gregoire’s office responded in full in less than a month. Copying costs were US $5.30.

The Office of the Premier didn’t provide their initial response until after the Washington Governor’s office had sent all the requested documents. They still haven’t provided any documents, but did send a bill for C $620.

“The length of time taken by the Office of Premier to respond to FOI requests generally is an embarrassment,” said FIPA Executive Director Darrell Evans. “The result of this informal test shows how bad the situation has become in this province. Congratulations to Governor Gregoire, and a big raspberry for Premier Campbell.”

The BC Information and Privacy Commissioner issued a report in February of this year which slammed the government for only having a 71 percent on-time response rate. The Office of the Premier has a 31 percent on-time response rate, as calculated by the Commissioner.The Commissioner’s full report is available at http://www.oipcbc.org/investigations/reports/F08-35580_Calendar_2008_Report_Card(Feb_2009).pdf

“We will have more FOI horror stories in the days to come,” Evans said. “This government’s record on the issue is appalling, and the Premier’s office is one of the worst offenders. Gordon Campbell should answer for what his government has done.”

CONTACT:  Darrell Evans, Executive Director, 604-739-9788

Timeline for the two FOI requests

November 25, 2008: Requests are sent by fax to both leaders’ offices.

December 5, 2008: First response from Governor Gregoire’s office with 25 pages of documents.

December 10, 2008: Final batch of documents sent from Governor Gregoire’s office, 63 pages total.  Copying cost US$5.30

December 12, 2008: First letter of acknowledgement from the Office of the Premier states 30 days required for response.

January 12, 2009: Office of the Premier takes another 30 days due to “the large volume of records to be searched.” New target response date February 25, 2009.

January 29, 2009: Fee letter from OOP – Total cost estimated $620. FIPA pays the $310 deposit to keep the work moving, asks for public interest waiver of the fee.

Current status: Still waiting…

NEWS RELEASE

INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
BLASTS BC GOVERNMENT'S
FOI PERFORMANCE IN SPECIAL
REPORT

February 13th, 2009

BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner has issued a special report criticizing the provincial government for its failure to tackle the chronic problem of delay in responding to freedom of information requests.

In his first annual report on FOI performance, “Timeliness of Government’s Access to Information Responses”, released on February 13, David Loukidelis describes what he calls “an unacceptable pattern of government-wide failure to respond to access requests in as timely a fashion as it should.”

Citing his failed attempts over a period of almost 10 years to prompt successive administrations to act, Loukidelis said the “time had clearly come for a more
direct approach through annual reporting”, adding, “This report is the first of what will become annual reports on government’s performance in meeting its openness and accountability obligations under our FOI law. This first report clearly shows that government has to do a better job of responding to access requests.”

NEWS RELEASE

REPORT: The full text of the report can be found at http://oipc.bc.ca/ under What’s New.

MEDIA COVERAGE:
Times Colonist
Vancouver Sun  

HOW BC’S NEW ELECTION ACT MAY
AFFECT YOUR GROUP’S FREEDOM
OF SPEECH!

A briefing and public forum for NGOs
January 14, 2009

FIPA is holding an emergency meeting for public interest groups who are concerned about their ability to carry on commenting on public issues and raising funds for ongoing communication efforts due to British Columbia’s new Election Act.

The third party spending provisions of the Election Act are an assault on freedom of expression. They are considerably different from the rules in the Canada Elections Act, and pose a real threat to any organization that intends to communicate about public policy and government actions during the 88-day "election period" which starts on Feb. 13, 2009.

If you have a website, produce a publication or do other types of communications related to the many and varied activities of the provincial government, you will be affected. These and many other routine activities could fall within the definition of "election advertising", which goes far beyond actual paid advertisements. Penalties for “advertising” without official registration are onerous.

Confused? Most NGOs are! Concerned? You should be! We will need to be absolutely clear on our communications activities and our risks over the next five months.

FIPA has organized a forum for affected groups so they can receive a briefing from experts who have studied the Election Act, and have a round table discussion on strategy and actions for dealing with the Act and its impacts.

ELECTION ACT FORUM
DATE: January 14, 2009
TIME: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
PLACE: People’s Law School, Suite 150, 900 Howe Street
(Entrance on Smithe St. between Granville and Howe)

ADMISSION IS FREE, BUT SEATING IS LIMITED – REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
Call 604-739-9788 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to reserve your seat.

BC GOVERNMENT REVERSAL
A VICTORY FOR OPENNESS

Critics Applaud About-Face on
Excessive Secrecy In Greenhouse Gas Bills

April 21, 2008
Vancouver – Freedom of information advocates in BC are celebrating a major government reversal on excessive secrecy in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Bills 16 and 18. In the face of strong opposition, the BC Government has removed confidentiality clauses which overrode the Freedom of Information act and would have imposed a wall of secrecy around the government’s dealings with corporations with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and carbon credit trading.

Amendments were introduced on April 17 that replace the offending clauses with garden-variety confidentiality clauses which do not override the FOI act or allow the withholding of more information than is currently allowed by the FOI act.

Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis wrote letters on April 4 to Ministers Barry Penner and Richard Neufeld stating that the clauses originally in the bills were “a matter of significant concern” (read letters).

“When these bills were put forward with these over-the-top secrecy provisions, it was clear they favoured corporate secrecy over public accountability,” said Darrell Evans of the Campaign for Open Government (COG). “Thankfully we were joined in opposing these clauses by the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the Official Opposition, and Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom, all of whom raised forcible objections to the minister.”

Mr. Lekstrom, who chaired a special committee of the Legislature that reviewed the FOIPP Act in 2004, stated, “I was concerned because my committee looked at the corporate confidentiality issue and concluded that the FOI act protects necessary confidentiality in a balanced and effective manner.”

“It’s positive when a government makes the effort to understand criticism and reconsider legislation,” Lekstrom continued. “I look forward to the completion of current discussions we’re having around the “Policy Advice” section of the FOI act, which my committee highlighted as the single most important item needing an update.”

“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation applauds these amendments,” said Maureen Bader, BC Director and member of the COG. “It is an important about-face in a process that has been leading to less government transparency here in BC.”

“We hope these amendments are a sign that the times are changing in Victoria,” added Evans. “We are really looking forward to a similar response from the government regarding the Policy Advice section of the FOI act. Currently, it is the section that is being most widely abused to withhold information from the public. We are calling on the government to amend and clarify that section before the end of this session.”

(Read the COG April 8 news release and media coverage on Bills 16 & 18).

CAMPAIGN FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT
PRESENTS WHISTLEBLOWER AWARD
TO FORMER GOVERNMENT ECOLOGIST

On December 11, the Campaign for Open Government and the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association presented the Whistleblower Award for 2007 to Gord McAdams, an Ecologist formerly with the BC government.

A crystal trophy was presented to Mr. McAdams at SimonFraser University's Harbour Centre campus in a ceremony featuring remarks by Darrell Evans of FIPA, Maureen Bader of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Gwen Barlee of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, and MLA Shane Simpson.  Simpson recently introduced a private member's bill called the "Whistleblowers Protection Act" (pdf) in the BC Legislature.

STUCK HIS NECK OUT TO SAVE ENDANGERED TURTLES

Gord McAdams is a city councillor in Nelson, BC and a former employee of BC's Ministry of Water, Air and Land Protection.  In 2005, he was fired for bringing confidential government documents to the BC Supreme Court in support of a court action brought by the West Kootenay Community Ecosociety.  The documents showed that the Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection had made “an unauthorized exercise of his statutory power” when he favoured a developer by agreeing to move an access road in Grohman Narrows Provincial Park.

The government documents clearly stated that the new road would bury nests and kill eggs of endangered painted turtles in the Park.

The Supreme Court ruled that the government could not ignore the Park Act to accommodate a developer and set aside the Minister's decision to move the road.

For his courageous act, Gord was fired just hours before he was due to retire. As a result, he lost $25,000 in retirement benefits. (The benefits were restored later when his union, the BCGEU, went to bat for him).

Gord McAdams signs on as a Friend of FOI.

WHISTLEBLOWING MADE NECESSARY BECAUSE MINISTRY WOULDN’T COMPLY WITH FOI ACT Gord McAdams took a huge risk by placing the public interest and endangered wildlife ahead of his own interests.  His act of whistleblowing was made necessary largely because the government would not respond in a timely fashion to requests for documents made under the freedom of information act. The West Kootenay Community EcoSociety attempted to obtain the documents Mr. McAdams brought to court through an FOI request.  But they ran into the Liberal government’s incredible ‘wall of denial’ against sensitive FOI requests.  They were given the run-around to the point that there was no way they could receive the requested materials until after the disputed road was built.

It took seven months to get the same documents through FOI that Gord had presented to the court.  The FOI act requires government ministries to respond within 30 working days, with an extension of another 30 in exceptional cases.

When government fails in its duty to disclose vital information to the public, the public and the media are forced to rely increasingly on whistleblowers and leaked ‘brown envelopes’ to get to the truth.

The Campaign hopes that the Whistleblower Award will inspire other civil servants to bring forward information in the public interest when governments fail to do the right thing.

View Media Coverage - pdf