BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has issued a special report criticizing the provincial government for its failure to tackle the chronic problem of delay in responding to freedom of information requests.
In his first annual report on FOI performance, “Timeliness of Government’s Access to Information Responses”, released on February 13, David Loukidelis describes what he calls “an unacceptable pattern of government-wide failure to respond to access requests in as timely a fashion as it should.”
Citing his failed attempts over a period of almost 10 years to prompt successive administrations to act, Loukidelis said the “time had clearly come for a more direct approach through annual reporting”, adding, “This report is the first of what will become annual reports on government’s performance in meeting its openness and accountability obligations under our FOI law. This first report clearly shows that government has to do a better job of responding to access requests.”
The full text of the report can be found at http://oipc.bc.ca/ under “What’s New.”
Media Coverage:
Times Colonist
Vancouver Sun
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