If or when your party forms the next B

April 17, 2001

Darrell Evans, executive director

BC Freedom of Information & Privacy Association

Dear Mr. Evans:

Thank you for your letter and the opportunity to respond. Please find attached responses to the BC Freedom of Information & Privacy Association MLA Questionnaire. Thank you for your interest in our position on these issues.

Sincerely,

GORDON CAMPBELL, MLA

Leader of the Official Opposition

QUESTIONS FOR MLAS

ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PRIVACY ISSUES

FIPA would appreciate receiving your views on the following questions.

Please do not be restricted by the format, but feel free to elaborate on any point.

If or when your party forms the next B.C. government:

1. What specific reforms or amendments would you wish to make to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP Act)?

We will scrutinize the FOIPP Act on an on-going basis to ensure that it fulfills our commitment to open government in British Columbia. In particular, we will implement the recommendations in the Report of the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In addition, we will undertake a review of the issue whether, consistent with the principles of parliamentary privilege, the administrative operations of the Legislative Assembly can be made subject to disclosure under the FOIPP Act in order to ensure that the Legislative Assembly is accountable to taxpayers, and to thereby enhance public confidence in the institution of parliament.

At present a number of provincial government public bodies are not listed in Schedule 2 of the Act, or otherwise state that they should not be included within one of the public bodies listed under Schedule 2. The BC Liberals will review these issues and, where necessary, add public bodies to Schedule 2 of the Act.

2. In 1998, the B.C. government slashed the budgets of the offices that answer freedom of information (FOI) requests and imposed unrealistic cost-recovery targets as well. These actions have been blamed for slowing down FOI response times. If elected, what approach will you advocate for funding the FOI process? For example, would you restore FOI office budgets?

We support the goal of reducing FOI response times, but believe that significant progress can be made towards that goal by increasing the routine disclosure of documents and streamlining the internal approval processes that currently delay the processing of FOI requests.

3. Most freedom of information and privacy advocates believe that, since access to public information is a right of citizens, it should not be subject to fees especially for access to one's own personal information. Some opponents of FOI have proposed that application fees and/or cost-recovery targets should be levied for FOI requests. What would your approach be?

We believe that citizens should not be charged fees for access to their own information held by public bodies. Access to information is a basic right of citizens and enhances democratic governance; FOI for personal information should not be a cost-recovery tool for government.

4. In his last annual report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner indicated that undue delay is the foremost problem in the FOI process. What would your approach be to reducing FOI response delays?

One of the most effective tools in reducing response times is simply having public servants handling specific requests contact the requester and discuss the request. Frequently this results in a more focused request, or alternatively allowing for the information to be released outside the FOI process.

We believe these mechanisms will help to reduce some of the pressures presently placed on the resources of the administration of FOI within public bodies and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. We would be pleased to work with the Commissioner and interested groups to take further steps to reduce response delays.

5. Do you favour reducing, keeping stable, or increasing the funding for the Information and Privacy Commissioner's office? By how much?

Our commitment to open government means providing a stable funding base for the Information and Privacy Commissioner's office to ensure that office has the resources it needs to discharge its statutory mandate. We also intend to provide a more direct forum for the accountability of independent officers of the legislature through the annual estimates process, in a process which will encourage the development of business plans by all legislative officers.

6. What other specific measures would you propose to increase general access to government information? Would these measures emphasize cost recovery, or free access in the spirit of the FOIPP Act?

BC Liberals support a variety of measures intended to open up government including the routine release of information. The use of the Internet in providing documents for public consumption will help meet the goals of openness and accountability while reducing government costs.

BC Liberals are committed to holding Cabinet meetings in public once a month. Cabinet decisions on land use issues like those involving the ALR, new parks, land claims, and tenure issues will be decided in public. Major capital decisions on issues like the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre will also be decided in public.

The BC Liberals are also committed to re-establishing Legislative Committees, some of which have not sat since the 1970s. These committees will travel around the province to include BC citizens in debate and provide citizens with the information they need so that government can make better, more transparent, public policy decisions.

The BC Liberals are also committed to establishing performance standards and targets for all government programs. Progress will be measured, audited and published in Annual Reports, and on the Internet, for all to see.

7. Ottawa recently passed a law to penalize the improper shredding and alteration of records by officials in the federal government. Would you advocate the same for the provincial government?

We would welcome a public discussion concerning the desirability of introducing similar legislation in British Columbia.

8. Do you favour including the Legislature itself (eg. Clerks and MLAs' offices) in the coverage of the FOIPP Act?

We will undertake a review of the issue whether, consistent with the principles of parliamentary privilege, the administrative operations of the Legislative Assembly can be made subject to disclosure under the FOIPP Act in order to ensure that the Legislative Assembly is accountable to taxpayers, and to thereby enhance public confidence in the institution of parliament.

9. In 1999, to make local governments more open and accountable, the Municipal Act was amended to limit the topics which municipal councils can discuss in closed session. Would you favour similar legislation to cover some other public bodies -- eg. police, school and park boards, universities?

The BC Liberals are in favour of increased openness and accountability to the electorate for government at all levels. We would consider this issue and welcome your organization's comments on the topic.

10. What specific measures would you bring in to improve privacy protection both within government and in the private sector?

The BC Liberals are supportive of the Special Committee’s report on Information Privacy in the Private Sector and will work towards implementation of this committee’s recommendations.

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