A start to better transparency

OUR EDITORIAL: WHAT WE THINK More must be done to improve information access

The Liberal government is making a move to put some actual “access” into the Access to Information Act. New legislation was tabled Monday that would give the federal information commissioner more power to order the release of government records.

That’s a welcome step, especially in view of information commissioner Suzanne Legault’s recent report in which she pointed out the access law was being used as a shield against transparency.

The proposed legislation would give the commissioner greater clout to open files by making the government or other objectors produce a good reason why a record should remain secret. Currently, it’s up to the commissioner to argue why government files should be released.

The bill also proposes extending the law — in a limited way — to the offices of the prime minister, cabinet members, senators and MPs, as well as to administrative institutions that support Parliament and the courts. The legislation would legally require them to release certain types of records, such as hospitality and travel expenses and contract information.

While the legislation is a move in the right direction in terms of increasing government transparency, it isn’t perfect. It doesn’t do anything to reduce exemptions in the law that permit agencies to black out passages and block the release of records.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, welcomed the new measures contained in the legislation but added that the bill falls short of removing what he called “huge secrecy loopholes.”

The British Columbia Freedom of Information and Privacy Association offered a similar view, noting the bill leaves “black holes in the law” that will continue to block access to information.

The information commissioner herself has spoken of the need for stronger measures to ensure improved transparency.

In releasing her annual report June 8, Legault said, “If you want to truly change a whole culture in a very large bureaucracy, you’re going to have to make a concerted effort. There are going to have to be clear messages from the prime minister, the responsible ministers, the clerk of the Privy Council.

“Sadly, champions for transparency are absent.”

The provisions of the bill unveiled Monday might be intended to make the government appear to be “champions for transparency,” and certainly the measures it introduces will be an improvement, but it will still fall short of what is needed. Last year a House of Commons committee called on the government to implement a major reform of the Access to Information Act, which came into effect in 1983, in order to bring about real transparency.

It appears real transparency in government will still be lacking even with the passage of this new legislation. Without full transparency, democracy falls short of what it could be — and should be.

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