Sister Sage's Musings

Posts Tagged ‘Access to Information’

Information is important for citizens of this country to understand what their government is doing. We need information so that we can keep an eye on the money that they spend and the policies they are implementing. We also need access to information so we know, for example, whether or not donors to the Conservative party have had renovation deals on Parliament Hill fast tracked. This is just one example of what ATI has allowed us to see from a government that keeps it’s briefcases tightly closed and paper grossly blacked out. When Parliament wanted information on Afghan Detainees, we got document dumps with almost entire pages blocked out, or redacted. It’s like Nixon-phobia has taken hold in Ottawa and either the people inside the PMO or ministers themselves are getting Sharpy happy. This government is so incredibly terrified that Canadians are going to find out what’s going on behind closed doors that they are blacking out almost everything ad-hoc.

Seriously, this has to stop. Canadians have the right to see information, regardless of what the government feels about it’s importance. If I apply for access to information about ANY file, it should take less then 30 days for me to get it. But according to Jennifer Stoddard, the Privacy Comissioner, ATI requests are met by 30 days only about 50% of the time; and the rate is going down. This is SHAMEFUL. It’s clear what the government agenda is. SECRECY. They don’t want us to know what’s going on. This is from the government that was supposed to clean up things in Ottawa. It was all transparency and accountability and in Harper’s words, we would not recognize Canada when he was finished. I disagree. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. The accountability file has fallen by the wayside because the government knows it’s not in their interest to allow information to get out.

The government can talk about doing things for Canada and how much they have achieved economically, but as long as they continue to stand in the way of public access to government documents, they prove that they are no different than anyone who came before them. Governmental clean-up? No. More like a public shake-down.

Correction: In the first paragraph it states “It’s like Nixon-phobia has taken hold in Ottawa and either the people inside the PMO or ministers themselves are getting Sharpy happy.” The bold part should read “A Nixonian tendency…” Sorry for the confusion.