Stopping Information Access

"There are a number of things that I think we do need to do to reinvigorate our public institutions, to re-establish trust in our public institutions. Freedom of information is really one of the easier ones. It's direct; it's simple. It says simply: make information available when people request it, as opposed to trying to stop them and sending them large bills to get the simplest information."
Gordon Campbell, Hansard, July 22, 1998

Gordon Campbell has changed his attitude on many things; one of the changes for the worst is his 180 degree shift on access to information. On November 23rd, Carole James again alleged that documents from the coroner's office obtained under Freedom of Information were edited for political purposes. The package sent to the NDP accidentally included a hand written note from one senior staff person to another offering suggestions on deleting information. James said: "It is clear now, in 2006, that this government has been caught red-handed manipulating FOI for their political purposes." Solicitor General John Les hid behind the public service and charged that criticism directed at him "continues to impugn the reputation of hardworking civil servants who carry out the intent of legislation every day in British Columbia." The intent of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act was to change the culture in government to one of openness so that the Act would rarely need to be used to gain access to information; the opposite has happened. Perhaps that is why Les referred to upholding the "letter of the law" when users of the Act would like to see its intent honoured.

The Solicitor General should visit the Campaign for Open Government's website where he would see how his government has eroded access to information. At the BC Information and Privacy Association's September 29, 2006 conference, numerous delegates complained of the frustrations they faced when attempting to get information out of the Campbell government.

On April 28, 2006 I faxed a freedom of information request for copies of any documents that supported what Health Minister George Abbott said with respect to emergency room backups, namely that the Ministry had reviewed claims about increased morbidity and mortality with the Fraser Health Authority, with the Ministry of Health and with the Canadian Institute for Health Information. All I have received is a Ministerial briefing note with anything that might be of interest blanked out. That is under appeal with no resolution in the seven months since the request. The Ministry did not produce information to support Abbott's claim about reviewing concerns with the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

On September 15th I put in a freedom of information request on a line about "own-source revenue" that appeared in the September First Quarterly Financial Report, indicating that government would receive $287 million more in revenue than it anticipated in February's budget. Over two months have past and I've yet to get any information.

On October 6th I submitted a freedom of information request asking how the government estimated that only 15,000 people would take advantage of its new rental assistance program. That shouldn't be a difficult request; after all, someone wrote a news release and used the claim about 15,000 families so that person must have a document which shows where the figure came from. I'm suspicious because it looks to me like far more than 15,000 families should qualify for the program, and I think the government's estimate is limited to looking at waiting lists at BC Housing. In a letter dated November 21, 2006, Rich Coleman's Ministry wrote saying: "Your request involves searching a large number of records. The volume of information involved cannot be processed within the usual time limit." They now claim that they will respond no later than January 5, 2007, but I won't hold my breath. Anyone who believes that it is necessary to search a large volume of information in order to answer a very specific request is also likely to believe that Santa will get stuck in the chimney.

The Campbell government does everything in its power to frustrate requests for information. On the issue involving the coroner's office, John Les told Carole James that if she didn't like it she could appeal to the Freedom of Information Commissioner. The Commissioner's budget was cut by 35% in 2002, which forced it to reduce staff to 17 to do four times the work that 30 staff do in the office of Alberta's Commissioner.

The strategy of the Campbell government might be to try to discourage advocacy groups and news media from submitting information requests. The Campaign for Open Government reported that "In 2002 there were 302 FOI requests made by interest groups, in 2004 this number was down to 143." Democracy is the loser when the government succeeds in stopping access to information, at least that's what Gordon Campbell said in 1998.