Canada’s federal and provincial Information Commissioners are urging the federal government to make reform of the Access to Information Act and improved compliance part of the Open Government action plan. The recommendations are included in a joint “Letter on Open Government” sent to President of the Treasury Board Tony Clement on January 20, 2012. The […]

BC FIPA’s response to a petition by Ministry of Citizens’ Services to the BC Supreme Court in relation to a judicial review regarding FIPA’s FOI request for the Workplace Support Agreement between the Province of BC and IBM Canada. Download the response (pdf). BC FIPA opposes all orders sought by the petitioner.  The Ministry is […]

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association is calling for penalties to be imposed on the BC government for cases where its deliberate cover-ups of embarrassing information amount to an abuse of the freedom of information process. Yesterday the Vancouver Sun reported that the BC government spent 19 months claiming that a pamphlet promoting […]

The Province has been Hiding Full Contract From Taxpayers for Eight Years; Going Back to Court in March to Keep Contract Under Wraps The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today revealed that the provincial government has spent $124,522.48 so far in its eight-year-long fight against releasing the IBM workplace service contract to the BC Freedom of […]

“Congratulations. We did not think it was possible to create a consultation document on Open Government without making a single mention of Access to Information, but you did it. Bravo.” So begins a FIPA submission sent today to the Canadian government, which is making a show of consulting Canadians about its purported efforts to improve […]

BC FIPA has made its submission on Open Government in response to this somewhat ad hoc consultation, which was announced by the President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable Tony Clement, on December 6, 2011. Our submission is highly critical of the nature of the consultation and its focus only on open data and technology. […]

According to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, what’s good for the City isn’t good for the city’s police department when it comes to freedom of information policy. Vancouver Police Department will continue posting records obtained through FOI simultaneously to the requester and the VPD website, even though Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vancouver City Council voted to […]

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association held a birthday party today for its longest-running FOI request, which turns seven this month. FIPA has been trying since 2004 to get an uncensored copy of the BC government’s $300 million Workplace Services Agreement with IBM, but the government continues to fight against its release. FIPA […]

CORPORATE SUBSIDIARIES OF PUBLIC BODIES NOW BEYOND THE LAW Edit: See October 25, 2011 update below. A decision by the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Office last week confirms that BC universities and other public bodies can create independent companies whose records are beyond the reach of the province’s freedom of information law. And even though […]

FIPA and the BC Civil Liberties Association are raising the alarm over amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act introduced yesterday. “The government has decided on a policy to massively increase the personal information collected, stored and shared with others,” said Micheal Vonn, Policy Director of the BCCLA. “Yet, projects like […]

A total refusal to release contracts in Winnipeg. Quebec’s denial of basic accountability information about top officials’ spending. Passenger manifests for Ontario’s executive aircraft. The federal government’s stubborn refusal to release data in a useful form. These are just some of the findings of the Newspapers Canada sixth annual National Freedom of Information Audit, which […]

There is a growing furor in Parliament over the actions of a former ministerial aide who Canada’s Information Commissioner found had interfered with an access-to-information request. (See “Transparency groups urge Commons inquiry into RCMP’s dropping investigation into violation of Access to Information Act“) Parliamentary Secretary Dean del Mastro stood tall for former ministerial aide Sebastien […]