Posted Fall of 2021
Bill 22 creates more barriers to access Government information for anyone seeking the truth rather than spin.
As captured by the SPFA Bill 22 matters to any British Columbian impacted by drought, heat, wildfires or floods, and seeking answers from public bodies about emergency preparedness and response.
We need your help to send the Government House Leader a message!
On November 25th, the BC legislative session is scheduled to end. The Government will either use its majority to ram Bill 22 through or it will remain on the Order Paper until the start of the new legislative session in February 2022.
Bill 22 amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and reduces your access to government information. Colin Gabelman, the Attorney General who first introduced FIPPA, sees this as a step backwards. Civil society is speaking out against this Bill. The independent Information and Privacy Commissioner is critical of Bill 22.
BC’s FIPPA used to be viewed as one of the best in Canada. Bill 22 erodes government transparency and reduces the province to mediocre status at best, lowering the bar across the country. On top of all of this, the introduction of the Bill at this time undermines the work of the all-party special legislative committee whose specific task is to review and make recommendations for changes to FIPPA. This majority government continues to attempt to ram through Bill 22.
We need to send the Government House Leader and Deputy Premier, Hon. Mike Farnworth, a message.
Our message is simple: Transparency matters to all of us. Stop Bill 22.
We created the form below. An email address is necessary. We’ve suggested some text you may want to use but you can edit it (please be respectful). Once you are ready, you can hit submit. The email is sent to the Hon. Mike Farnworth as House Leader and Deputy Premier and CC’d to the email you entered. FIPA does not store any of this information on our website.
You could also send messages to Minister Beare and the Premier, as well as NDP MLAs.
Our message to Hon. Mike Farnworth
Hon Mike Farnworth please don’t Flip Flop
After repeated scandals surrounding the Legislative Assembly with items like wood splitters, all parties agreed with the recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsperson, and Merit Commissioner. As Government House Leader you committed with all party support to act on these recommendations and to make the Offices of the Legislative Assembly more transparent. These commitments were in keeping with your party’s commitments made in 2017.
Your words and actions don’t match. Bill 22 doesn’t meet or act on any of this.
The opposition, civil society, independent offices and public continue to raise legitimate concerns and call for Bill 22 to be sent back to the drawing board.
If you ram Bill 22 through with your majority, it will impact the citizens of British Columbia now, haunt us into the future, and set a dangerous precedent across Canada.
Our message is simple: Transparency matters to all of us. Stop Bill 22.
I’m asking you to reconsider these actions:
- Withdraw this Bill
- Recognize the role of all-party special committee and allow it to complete its work, including an open consultation process
- Commit, on record, to introduce comprehensive amendments to FIPPA that reflect the recommendations of past and current special committees.