Right to Know Week ended on October 5, 2007 with the second BC Information Summit. The father of BC’s Freedom of Information Act, former Attorney General Colin Gabelmann, delivered a keynote address at the Summit to clarify what the original intention of the BC Legislature was when it unanimously passed the FOI Act in 1992.

“One of our major intentions was that formal FOI requests would be a last resort, not a routine means of obtaining information. We wanted to encourage the routine release of information to citizens.

“We also realized that real freedom of information would not come without a financial cost to government.  In our first throne speech, we stated that we would devote significant resources to making freedom of information work. And we did.

“Over the years, however, resources for FOI implementation have been cut severely, both within government and in the Commissioner’s office, resulting in a large loss of the staff dedicated to FOI and a clear signal to other government employees that access to information is not a government priority.” – Colin Gabelmann, Oct 5, 2007 (read full speech).

Our Fall message to the BC Government is:

It’s time to restore the integrity of the FOI Act, restore the necessary funding, and eliminate the barriers that are restricting the flow of public information to the public.

It’s time to stop delaying, denying and avoiding citizens’ requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION THIS FALL!

Any day now, the BC government is expected to re-introduce Bill 25, a bill that amends the FOI act.  Bill 25 falls far short of Liberal promises to improve the act, but it may be improved if enough pressure is brought to bear.

Our Fall message to Premier Gordon Campbell is:

You promised to restore open government after the ‘dark ages’ under Glen Clark.  Not only have you failed to deliver, you further cut back the resources needed to respond to Freedom of Information requests. You also amended the FOI act to increase delays and opportunities for government stonewalling.
 
This Legislative session provides a fresh opportunity to make some positive moves toward fulfilling your promises of Open Government (see Gordon Campbell letter).   

While the goals of the Campaign for Open Government remain the same (see goals), we propose two modest objectives for fall 2007:

1.    Amend section 13 of the Freedom of Information Act (which allows governments to withhold policy advice) in order to restore its original intent.  The improper use of this section to withhold background information used in making policy decisions is the single biggest barrier to an open and transparent government in BC.

2.    Restore funding to the FOI departments of government ministries so they have sufficient resources to “meet or beat the statutory disclosure timetables” for FOI requests.  (The Liberal Caucus stated they were “strongly committed” to this in 1998.)

Continue Reading to Learn about Bill 25, which was Introduced Last Session but not Passed.