By Irwin Loy 24 HOURS A prominent environmental advocacy group is claiming victory in a four-year battle to make B.C.’s Ministry of Environment cough up data on industry pollution. The office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has ruled the ministry as “unreasonable” in demanding a $173,000 fee to gather the information. Sierra Legal had […]

B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis has begun a preliminary investigation into whether the health ministry “abused” provincial Freedom of information legislation. On February 9, Loukidelis wrote to the ministry’s director of corporate information, privacy and records, asking for an uncensored copy of a resignation letter written by former Fraser Health Authority chairman Keith […]

The Campaign for Open Government has released a list of the top 10 stories broken in BC during 2006 through the use of the Freedom of Information act. Information obtained through FOI requests in 2006 threw public light on environmental disasters, threats to public health and safety, official misconduct and corruption, bungled government programs, and […]

The BC government’s handling of a recent Freedom of Information request from the NDP has laid bare the “culture of denial” rampant among government decision-makers. Information mistakenly released to the NDP reveals hand-written advice by a top political aide to Solicitor General John Les, which suggests severing politically-sensitive information from the requested documents on the […]

BC’s Campaign for Open Government has released the first group of signatories to its “Declaration by the Friends of FOI.” Included in the list are such notable British Columbians as Dr. David Suzuki, political commentators Rafe Mair and Gordon Gibson, and Mel Rothenburger, editor of the Kamloops Daily News. Prof. Alasdair Roberts, the world’s leading […]

A broad-based coalition which includes FIPA, the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation, BC Civil Liberties Association and many other groups, has launched a campaign to ensure BC’s government fulfills its long-overdue promise to be a Canadian leader in openness and accountability. The Campaign for Open Government http://www.opengovernment.ca is focusing on the Province’s poor record of response to […]

Several backbench Conservative MPs on the House of Commons standing committee on ethics, privacy and access to information have dissented with the Prime Minister and Cabinet on needed reforms to the Access to Information Act (ATI Act). Led by Tory MP Mike Wallace, they have rejected the government’s request that the committee begin its work […]

October 12, 2006 – In the first decision of its kind from an international tribunal, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday that there is a fundamental human right to access government information. In the case of Claude Reyes and others vs. Chile, the Court found in favor of three environmental activists who in […]

Canada’s Department of Defence has invoked a new wave of secrecy in the last 18 months to censor details of their own financial bungling and what some critics are calling questionable uses of military resources. They have been able to do so because of new national security provisions that have been added to federal Access […]

A broad-based coalition which includes FIPA, the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation, BC Civil Liberties Association and many other groups, launched a campaign today to ensure BC’s government fulfills its long-overdue promise to be a Canadian leader in openness and accountability. The Campaign for Open Government is focusing on the Province’s poor record of response to Freedom […]

BC FIPA has released a study on the BC Government’s response to freedom of information (FOI) requests over the past five years. The study titled “Access Denied” reveals many shortcomings in the administration of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act (FIPPA). Results indicate that response times for information requests are often in excess […]

The federal Conservatives made an iron-clad election promise to bring more openness to government. However, in a move that flouts this promise, the federal government is moving to curtail the independence of the Information Commissioner’s office. Outgoing Information Commissioner John Reid complained yesterday that the government is seeking to rein in the office by skewing […]