Latest news with #accessToInformation
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
N.S. Finance Department chided for sitting on access-to-information package for 9 months
Social Sharing Nova Scotia's privacy commissioner is calling out the province's Finance Department after officials have sat on an access-to-information disclosure package for nine months. In a report released Friday and dated Aug. 12, David Nurse said the matter relates to a years-old information request for details about the Nova Scotia government's wine policy. Nurse writes that the lengthy delay in the case "is not defensible." His report found that after multiple delays, a review of records was completed by department officials and sent for approval on Nov. 8, 2024, with a response requested by Nov. 12, 2024. Customarily, it's the deputy minister of a department that signs off on the release of an information package. Kelliann Dean is the deputy minister for the Department of Finance and Treasury Board. "At present, final approval is still pending for the request," Nurse writes. He goes on to recommend that the department release the records to the applicant within 14 days. A spokesperson for the Finance Department said in a statement that the government respects the decision by Nurse and is "working hard" to release the information within the stated deadline. In his report, Nurse noted that he has no authority to do anything more than make a recommendation to government. 'They don't like oversight,' says Liberal leader Premier Tim Houston promised in opposition to change that, and give the privacy commissioner order-making power. He made a similar pledge after first becoming premier in 2021, but has since indicated he has no intention of keeping the promise. Liberal MLA Iain Rankin said the situation is not surprising, given the Progressive Conservative government's track record. "I think it's fair to say that they don't like oversight or accountability and this is just another example of trying to hide information from the public," he said. Rankin pointed to other instances, such as the government's long delay in releasing a report on transportation options for the central region of the province. The government has also so far refused to release a report from an independent panel on environmental racism. Earlier this year, the PCs backed away from legislation that would have weakened the powers of the province's auditor general and then made changes to legislation that would have allowed some access-to-information requests to be ignored. Review of act still ongoing NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that no one was a bigger champion for a better access-to-information system than Houston while he was in opposition. "He changed his mind when he got to office," she said. "It's one of the many places in which Tim Houston said one thing when he was campaigning and has done quite a different one as premier." Former Liberal premier Stephen McNeil also promised while in opposition to give the privacy commissioner order-making power, only to break that promise after forming government. When Rankin was premier, his government ordered a review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, but that work was not completed before the Progressive Conservatives won the 2021 election.
Globe and Mail
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Federal review of access to information law ‘doesn't have credibility,' expert says
The federal government has launched an internal review of its access to information law, but one expert says the examination lacks legitimacy and falls short of the desires of transparency advocates. In a brief announcement on Friday, the government said it would be seeking feedback from stakeholders 'later in 2025.' During a press conference last week, a group of public interest advocacy organizations and access experts had called for an independent review of Ottawa's ailing access system. The group, which included academics, lawyers, journalists and activists, had drafted their own terms of reference for the examination. Matt Malone, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who spearheaded the call for an independent review, said the government 'has no incentive to engage in meaningful reform' and that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the department that oversees the administration of the federal access regime and is conducting the review, is in an 'inherent conflict of interest' since it is itself regulated by access law. 'It's the government completely retaining control,' Prof. Malone continued. 'You can already see from this moment exactly where this process is going. It's going to be a waste of government resources, and it's going to undermine public trust in the government, because they're going to engage in a process that doesn't have credibility from the get-go. Independent stakeholders have said clearly what credibility looks like in this context. The government has said through their actions: 'We're not going to listen to you.'' 'This is sad,' he said. Secret Canada: How transparent is your city? Audit of freedom of information requests finds vast differences By law, the Access to Information Act, which governs federal access requests, must be reviewed every five years. The last review was launched in 2020, lasted 2½ years – almost one year longer than its original deadline – and delivered no recommendations, drawing the ire of government transparency experts. At the time, Michael Wernick, who retired as the public service's top bureaucrat in 2019, called the government's final report 'tepid and incrementalist.' In an e-mailed statement, Treasury Board spokesperson Rola Salem said the government is responsible for evaluating federal access legislation, and that the department intends to 'undertake a more focused and expedited review.' During the 2025 federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to review Ottawa's access regime. 'An objective review of that would serve Canadians well, regardless of the result of the election,' he said. Access laws – sometimes called freedom of information or right to information legislation – exist in countries around the world and throughout Canada at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal level. They enshrine into law the principle that people have a right to know how their public institutions are being run and how tax dollars are being spent. These laws do this by allowing the public to make official requests for documents, which must then be disclosed – with limited exceptions. In 2023, a Globe and Mail investigation called Secret Canada looked at the state of Canada's access systems, including at the federal level. The Globe's reporting found that public institutions are routinely breaking access laws by violating statutory time limits, overusing redactions and claiming no records exist when they do. And they face few, if any, consequences for ignoring the precedents set by courts and information commissioners, the government-appointed watchdogs responsible for monitoring the system and mediating disputes.
