The federal Conservatives have quietly killed an access to information registry used by journalists, experts and the public that users say helped hold the government accountable. The Coordination of Access to Information Requests System, or CAIRS, is an electronic list of nearly every access to information request filed to federal departments and agencies. Originally created […]

FIPA is applauding the BC government’s removal of excessive secrecy clauses from its two new Greenhouse Gas Reduction bills. In the face of strong opposition, the Government deleted confidentiality clauses in Bills 16 and 18 which overrode the Freedom of Information act. The clauses would have imposed a wall of secrecy around the government’s dealings […]

Department’s Employees Blame Inadequate Resources, Bureaucratic Attitudes The federal Access to Information process appears to be in crisis as the rising number of requests, along with the pressure of the Harper government’s promises of increased transparency, are not being met with additional funding and resources, a new government report indicates. The assessment, based on focus […]

Excerpt, link to full Globe and Mail article below: The Harper Conservatives have failed to deliver on their key election promise to open up the federal government to greater scrutiny and to offer a transparent administration to Canadians, retired judge John Gomery told MPs yesterday. The former head of the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal […]

An investigation by BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has pointed to “systemic problems” with the way the BC Ministry of Environment has responded to Freedom of Information requests submitted by environmental groups and has led to broad changes within the Ministry. The investigation, one of only four undertaken by the Commissioner’s Office in the last […]

A reporter for the Victoria Times-Colonist has thrown light on how the BC government abuses the freedom of information process to improperly withhold sensitive information from the public. Relying on sweeping sections of the province’s freedom of information law, the Ministry of Children and Family Development tried to block the Times Colonist newspaper from getting […]

The Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is deeply disappointed in the new Conservative government’s failure in its recent Throne Speech to deliver on their promises to increase government transparency by “strengthening Access to Information legislation.” Harper is misleading Canadians when he claims that he has kept his word about making good on his […]

The politician who spearheaded the creation of the B.C. Freedom of Information Act says the 15-year-old legislation has failed to blunt government’s natural instinct to withhold public information. Former NDP attorney general Colin Gabelmann said Friday the act was designed to “foster a culture of openness” so that government officials would automatically release information as […]

The Federal Court has ordered the federal government to reveal most of what it didn’t want Canadians to know about the Mahar Arar Scandal. Newly declassified information shows that that Canadian agencies worked directly with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and also received information known to be likely derived from Syrian torture during a post-9/11 […]

In his annual report, released today, Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis has called on the Premier and Cabinet to show leadership by amending the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to restore the public’s access to information rights that were curtailed by a BC Court of Appeal Decision. “The bottom line is […]

For the sixth time since 2001, BC’s Liberal government has introduced amendments to the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP Act) without making much-needed improvements in public access to information. The BC government introduced Bill 25 on April 19 claiming that it “…will strengthen B.C.’s Freedom of Information and Protection of […]

The Campaign for Open Government is conducting research into the experiences of individuals who have used British Columbia’s Freedom of Information act over a period of time to request general (not personal) information and records. FOI requesters, please take the time to contribute your unique experience with FOI requests. Survey results will be used to […]