FIPA is calling on the Liberal government to give the Special Committee reviewing the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act the full year the law provides, instead of the eight months it just set out in the terms of reference for the committee. The Act provides that the committee must not take more […]

FIPA, the BC Civil Liberties Association, and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation sent a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell today calling for the return of BC Ferries to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. A report by the province’s Comptroller General revealed a culture of secrecy and entitlement at the provincially-owned but privately-run […]

Toronto/ Vancouver – The federal Justice Minister has slammed the door on any reform of the crippled Access to Information Act for the foreseeable future, according to three national organizations concerned about openness and accountability in government. In a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister, the Canadian Newspaper Association, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and […]

BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is about to receive a legislative review for the third time in its history. A Special Committee of the Legislature has been struck, and it is expected to have its first meeting soon. There will be no shortage of issues for the MLAs to deal with […]

UPDATE Oct. 29 2009: Information and Privacy Commissioner Decision F09-13, cited below, has been taken to Judicial Review by Intransit BC, one of the P3 contractors on the Canada Line project. View the Petition here.   The operators of BC’s Canada Line rapid transit system have been ordered to reveal all the details of their […]

By Darrell Evans Executive Director, FIPA At some point — soon, one hopes — we will find out who is responsible for the illegal destruction of cabinet e-mail records relating to the sale of BC Rail. Whoever gave the order to destroy the records should face serious consequences. It doesn’t matter whether the destruction was […]

OTTAWA – Canada’s outgoing information watchdog is threatening to seize documents after complaints that the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister’s Office is stonewalling some access-to-information requests. The information commissioner served formal notice on the Privy Council Office this week, warning that commission staff would use their legal powers to seize the documents themselves if […]

FIPA has asked Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis to investigate the destruction by the BC government of years of Cabinet emails in contravention of the Document Disposal Act. According to FIPA, this incident and the recent revelation about suppression of welfare statistics during the last election are the latest and most outrageous examples of […]

BC FIPA has published its analysis of the BC Government’s performance in responsding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from 2006 to 2008. The report, titled “Failing FOI: How the BC Government flouts the Freedom of Information Act and stonewalls FOI requests”, reveals that the “administrative system that is supposed to support [FOI] is badly […]

A study released today by FIPA 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 […]

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. […]

BC FIPA presented its submissions to the House of Commons Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) regarding Information Commissioner Robert Marleau’s 12 reform proposals. FIPA’s view [is] that we now have in this country a consensus that Commissioner Reid’s draft bill, with the addition of full Order making power for the Information […]