Access to information

Information commissioner right to investigate ‘muzzling’ of scientists

Topics: 
Access to information, Watchdogs, Science, Government transparency
Rating: 
4

Editorial – April 1, 2013

It’s good news that the federal Office of the Information Commissioner is launching an investigation into the alleged muzzling of Canadian scientists by officials in their departments. The clamour over the issue has only been getting louder, and continued inaction could have damaged Canada’s reputation in scientific circles.

The Information Commissioner has agreed to a request sent in February asking her to investigate what was termed as “the federal government’s policies and actions to obstruct the right of the public and the media to speak to government scientists.”

Provinces team up to block CBC's hospital data request

Topics: 
Health care, Access to information, Government transparency
Rating: 
3

Amber Hildebrandt – April 10, 2013

Provincial and territorial health department officials held cross-country meetings and agreed to a "national decision" to deny a CBC request for information about individual hospitals, CBC News has learned.

Documents obtained by CBC's the fifth estate via freedom-of-information requests show that health ministries across Canada kept in regular contact with each other over the course of a month to craft similar responses.

Feds dispute Canada’s dismal ranking in report on freedom of information

Topics: 
Access to information, Government transparency
Rating: 
4

February 24, 2013

The Harper government is dismissing a report that ranks it 55th in the world for upholding freedom of information, saying it has a sterling record for openness.

But a four-page document outlining the federal rebuttal took five months to release after a request under the Access to Information Act – underscoring the very delay problem that contributed to Canada’s dismal ranking.

Could muzzling federal scientists be illegal?

Topics: 
Government transparency, Access to information, Science
Rating: 
4

CBC News – February 20, 2013

The Information Commissioner of Canada is being asked to investigate whether "federal government policy forcing scientists to jump through hoops before speaking with the media" breaches the Access to Information Act.

The request was made as part of a complaint filed Wednesday by Democracy Watch, a non-profit organization that advocates for government accountability, and the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Clinic.

New level of secrecy in B.C. Premier's office

Topics: 
Access to information, Government transparency, Government ethics, BC
Rating: 
3

Vaughn Palmer – October 30, 2012

The B.C. Liberals provided a telling insight into their secretive ways Monday, with the response to an access-to-information request on the forced departure of Ken Boessenkool, chief of staff to Premier Christy Clark.

He resigned Sept. 23, two weeks after the premier’s office fielded a complaint about his conduct involving a female staffer in a bar and following what was described as a by-the-book investigation by the Public Service Agency.

Court clears release of judgment involving secret RCMP protocol

Topics: 
RCMP, Justice Department, Access to information, Government transparency
Rating: 
3
Suzanne Boudreau

Don Butler – October 22, 2012

A judge has ordered the release of a Federal Court judgment that had been suppressed for more than three months after the government argued that it disclosed too much information about a secret protocol between the RCMP and Justice Canada.

In a ruling late last week, Justice Marc Nadon of the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a government motion to keep the July 12 judgment by Justice Mary Gleason confidential. He provided no reasons for his decision.

Open courts principle at issue in suppressed decision over secret RCMP protocol

Topics: 
RCMP, Justice Department, Access to information, Government transparency
Rating: 
0

Don Butler – October 14, 2012

In what one legal expert calls an “extraordinary” move with implications for the principle of open courts, a Federal Court decision has been suppressed for nearly three months because government lawyers argue it contains too much information about a secret protocol between the RCMP and Justice Canada.

The protocol, lugubriously entitled “Principles to Implement Legal Advice on the Listing and Inspection of RCMP documents in Civil Litigation,” allegedly sets out procedures for access by Justice Canada lawyers to evidence obtained by the RCMP in criminal investigations that may be relevant in civil litigation involving the federal government.

Canadian groups raise concerns at UN about shortcomings in freedom of expression and other rights

Topics: 
Access to information, Freedom of the press, Torture, Policing
Rating: 
0

Don Butler – October 12, 2012

With Canada's human rights record due to come under a microscope next year at the United Nations, five organizations have raised a red flag about this country's weakening support for freedom of expression and access to information.

The organizations - PEN Canada, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, the Centre for Law and Demo­cracy and the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association - outline "significant shortcomings" in Canada's law and policy regarding freedom of expression.

Canada ranked 51st in access to information list

Topics: 
Access to information, Government transparency
Rating: 
0

June 22, 2012

As the 30th anniversary of the federal Access to Information Act approaches, Canada finds itself tied for 51st in the world on a list of 89 freedom-of-information rankings, languishing behind Angola, Colombia and Niger.

After some number-crunching to standardize findings, it turns out Canada is even lower on the list — 11 spots to be exact — than when it was first published last September as part of a groundbreaking project by Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy and Access Info Europe of Madrid.

World Press Freedom Day: our rights in Canada

Topics: 
Government transparency, Freedom of the press, Access to information, Message control or 'spin'
Rating: 
3

Arnold Amber – May 3, 2012

Today marks World Press Freedom Day. On this day, countries all around the world, from Burma, to Egypt, to Venezuela, are fighting to establish this fundamental cornerstone of democracy. These countries are not taking these crucial freedoms for granted.

But in Canada, a country most assume already has an unfettered press—how should we mark World Press Freedom Day? If we value press freedom, we all need to take a closer look at the state of these rights here at home. When we look beyond the words of the Charter to the daily reality for working journalists, we see a gradual erosion of freedoms. And our government is a contributing factor.

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