BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
We’re not waiting for 2016 to get action on transparency and privacy
After four weeks of heated campaigning, the 2013 provincial election is finally over. The voters of B.C. have chosen a new Liberal majority government under Christy Clark to lead the province for the next four years.
The coming weeks will see a new cabinet appointed, staff shuffled and (at least the possibility of) new faces taking a new view of how this government should tackle critical transparency, access, and privacy issues. But based on the government’s record, and the Liberal party’s response to our leaders’ survey, it will be an uphill struggle.
Despite having entered office by bestowing upon herself the title of “Open Government Premier,” Christy Clark has presided over a staggering decline in Freedom of Information performance over her term in office. Even as her party points to improvements in response times as evidence of their commitment to access (as they did in their response to our campaign survey), the actual quality of responses is collapsing. About a quarter of general FOI requests now come back unresponsive, and the problem seems to be centered squarely on the Premier’s Office, where fully 45% of requests generate no records whatsoever. This is the result of a widespread culture of what Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham calls ‘oral government’ in the Premier’s office and elsewhere.
The government has punted Denham’s call for a legislative ‘duty to document’ to the 2016 review of FIPPA, along with various other transparency issues like the coverage of educational subsidiary companies, the overuse of cabinet secrecy and policy advice exceptions, and the release of information in the public interest.
This is on top of the government’s penchant for foisting secretive, hugely expensive, privacy-invasive, and poorly managed tech projects, like the Integrated Case Management system and the BC Services Card, on residents without any public consultation.
So all told, while we have our fingers crossed for some positive initiatives from this new government, FIPA will not be sitting still. In the coming months, FIPA will…
- Continue to push for open and meaningful public consultations on government IT projects that put British Columbians’ personal data, and even their health, safety, and well-being at stake.
- Intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada (we just got leave from the court yesterday!) to push for fixes to the black hole that is the policy advice exception in s. 13 of FIPPA. It’s not enough to simply defer to the next review of the Act in 2016. We need change now.
- Keep up our own FOI request efforts to ensure that contracts, records, and documents relevant to the public interest are released without undue delay or interference.
- Fight and win our legal battle with the B.C. government over its unconstitutional Election Act. We cannot go through another election where our freedom of expression is subject to registration by government. A change is long overdue, and we intend to make it happen.
FIPA works hard to use its limited resources to push for real positive change in government at very low expense. Almost all of the major issues we’ve raised over the past year–the Election Act, public body non-compliance with section 25 of the FIPPA, privacy concerns over the BC Services Card and the Integrated Case Management system, declining FOI performance and oral government–have been taken up by various commissioners, courts, and government officers up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada.
But here’s the rub: to make all this happen, we need your help. Litigation requires lawyers, publications require researchers and staff time to prepare, policy workshops and training sessions require space and equipment. And all of that takes resources.
We’re very fortunate to work with an outstanding team of volunteers and partners, but we still ultimately rely on the contributions of people like you to keep the fight going. It is your support that allows us to continue to advocate for critical policy and legal reforms while providing resources, training, assistance services, and education to those who need it most, at little or no direct cost.
Join us as a member, support us as a donor, or help sustain us as a monthly contributor.
Every little bit helps, especially as we look forward to four more years of tough battles and important victories. Your support is always appreciated.
After four weeks of heated campaigning, the 2013 provincial election is finally over. The voters of B.C. have chosen a new Liberal majority government under Christy Clark to lead the province for the next four years.
The coming weeks will see a new cabinet appointed, staff shuffled and (at least the possibility of) new faces taking a new view of how this government should tackle critical transparency, access, and privacy issues. But based on the government’s record, and the Liberal party’s response to our leaders’ survey, it will be an uphill struggle.
Despite having entered office by bestowing upon herself the title of “Open Government Premier,” Christy Clark has presided over a staggering decline in Freedom of Information performance over her term in office. Even as her party points to improvements in response times as evidence of their commitment to access (as they did in their response to our campaign survey), the actual quality of responses is collapsing. About a quarter of general FOI requests now come back unresponsive, and the problem seems to be centered squarely on the Premier’s Office, where fully 45% of requests generate no records whatsoever. This is the result of a widespread culture of what Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham calls ‘oral government’ in the Premier’s office and elsewhere.
The government has punted Denham’s call for a legislative ‘duty to document’ to the 2016 review of FIPPA, along with various other transparency issues like the coverage of educational subsidiary companies, the overuse of cabinet secrecy and policy advice exceptions, and the release of information in the public interest.
This is on top of the government’s penchant for foisting secretive, hugely expensive, privacy-invasive, and poorly managed tech projects, like the Integrated Case Management system and the BC Services Card, on residents without any public consultation.
So all told, while we have our fingers crossed for some positive initiatives from this new government, FIPA will not be sitting still. In the coming months, FIPA will…
- Continue to push for open and meaningful public consultations on government IT projects that put British Columbians’ personal data, and even their health, safety, and well-being at stake.
- Intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada (we just got leave from the court yesterday!) to push for fixes to the black hole that is the policy advice exception in s. 13 of FIPPA. It’s not enough to simply defer to the next review of the Act in 2016. We need change now.
- Keep up our own FOI request efforts to ensure that contracts, records, and documents relevant to the public interest are released without undue delay or interference.
- Fight and win our legal battle with the B.C. government over its unconstitutional Election Act. We cannot go through another election where our freedom of expression is subject to registration by government. A change is long overdue, and we intend to make it happen.
FIPA works hard to use its limited resources to push for real positive change in government at very low expense. Almost all of the major issues we’ve raised over the past year–the Election Act, public body non-compliance with section 25 of the FIPPA, privacy concerns over the BC Services Card and the Integrated Case Management system, declining FOI performance and oral government–have been taken up by various commissioners, courts, and government officers up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada.
But here’s the rub: to make all this happen, we need your help. Litigation requires lawyers, publications require researchers and staff time to prepare, policy workshops and training sessions require space and equipment. And all of that takes resources.
We’re very fortunate to work with an outstanding team of volunteers and partners, but we still ultimately rely on the contributions of people like you to keep the fight going. It is your support that allows us to continue to advocate for critical policy and legal reforms while providing resources, training, assistance services, and education to those who need it most, at little or no direct cost.
Join us as a member, support us as a donor, or help sustain us as a monthly contributor.
Every little bit helps, especially as we look forward to four more years of tough battles and important victories. Your support is always appreciated.