Government transparency

Statscan staff face strict rules on what to say, wear

Topics: 
Government transparency, Message control or 'spin'
Rating: 
0

Jason Fekete – May 6, 2013

Number-crunchers at Statistics Canada are expected to refrain from making personal comments about the organization and government, including on social media and during their personal time, as part of the agency’s “code of conduct.”

A separate document on media training warns Statistics Canada bureaucrats about how to avoid “heading for a disaster” in a news interview and to “expect the sensational to be at the top of the story.”

Actions speak louder than words

Topics: 
Government transparency, Procurement process, Government ethics
Rating: 
0

Allan Cutler – June 10, 2013

On Tuesday morning, May 21, 2013 at approximately 9:30am, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to his caucus on the Senate expenses scandal. Like many Canadians, I listened and heard him say during his speech:

“I need not remind you that in 2006 this government was first elected to clean up the Liberal sponsorship scandal, to ensure the rules are followed and to ensure there are consequences when they are not. Canada now has one of the most accountable and transparent systems of governance in the entire world and this is something Canadians are rightly proud of.”

Ottawa mayor ends email block preventing staff from emailing reporters

Topics: 
Municipalities, Government transparency, Freedom of the press
Rating: 
0

David Reevely – June 6, 2013

Thousands of Ottawa city employees suddenly found themselves unable to exchange emails this week with reporters covering city hall, a move that had the primary effect of cutting off access to public information.

After an outcry Thursday morning, the policy was scrapped on the order of Mayor Jim Watson. “As the Mayor has requested, restrictions on email access for City of Ottawa staff will be lifted by end of day today,” said an emailed statement from the city’s communications department.

Opinon: MP Brent Rathgeber’s stand is a principled one

Topics: 
Government transparency, Justice Department, Government ethics
Rating: 
0
Brent Rathgeber

Stephen Maher – June 7, 2013

On Feb. 11, NDP MP Francois Boivin moved a motion at the House of Commons justice committee asking that it study allegations raised by Edgar Schmidt, a senior Justice Department lawyer who filed a lawsuit against the government in December 2012.

Schmidt alleges that the government is not following its legal responsibility to review laws — including many crime bills — to make sure that they comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It’s important, both because Schmidt is alleging the government is breaking the law, and also because, if he’s right, the government is passing legislation that will needlessly clog our courts.

Probe into AECL contracts hushed up

Topics: 
Nuclear industry, Procurement process, Government transparency
Rating: 
0

Annie Burns-Pieper and Alison Crawford – May 30, 2013

Former employees at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited say they witnessed potential wrongdoing in procurement practices at the federal Crown corporation, with some senior managers receiving personal gifts from suppliers, favouritism toward certain suppliers and leaks of information to suppliers about their competitors' bids.

CBC News has also learned that an extensive, months-long investigation into procurement at the nuclear agency by auditing firm Deloitte has been kept quiet for nearly five years. AECL has refused to comment on the investigation, which insiders say began in 2008 when Deloitte was asked to probe the company's procurement department.

Effort to suppress protocol “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” court rules

Topics: 
Justice Department, RCMP, Government transparency, Government ethics
Rating: 
3
Suzanne Boudreau

Don Butler – April 25, 2013

The federal government’s attempts to suppress a legal protocol between the RCMP and the justice department amount to “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” says the Federal Court of Appeal.

In a decision dated April 17, the court ruled that everything except the first three paragraphs of the 17-paragraph protocol should be disclosed to Ottawa resident Suzanne Boudreau, a former military prosecutor and justice department lawyer who first asked for it under access to information in 2006.

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.

Collingwood town officials face OPP probe

Topics: 
Municipalities, Conflict of interest, Government transparency, Ontario
Rating: 
0

Dave Seglins – March 8, 2013

Ontario Provincial Police are investigating allegations of corruption and conflict of interest levelled against elected officials in the town of Collingwood, a popular ski and summer destination northwest of Toronto.

CBC News has learned the OPP's anti-rackets branch has received three separate complaints from citizens over a string of recent council decisions and proposals involving multi-million-dollar projects, and a proposed casino in the town.

Kevin Page blames ‘weak’ public service for not serving Parliament, Canadians

Topics: 
Watchdogs, Government transparency
Rating: 
0
Kevin Page

Kathryn May – March 15, 2013

Days before he leaves the job, Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page is striking out at a secretive public service for starving Parliament of the information it needs to hold the government to account.

Page is pulling no punches in the final days of his mandate, veering into punditry that infuriates the government and his detractors. He wants public servants to serve Parliament and not just the government; he wants Parliament to regain “power of the purse” and he wants Canadians to fight to save his office, which he fears is doomed.

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