It’s our information

Giving people more information benefits everyone, but some officials just can’t let it go

Friday was World Press Freedom Day. The United Nations declared it to remind people why freedom of the press (and expression) is so important.

There are ceremonies and seminars around the globe to salute those organizations and individuals around the world who risk their lives and livelihoods to dig up information others would rather remain secret. It can be a deadly business. You likely won’t be surprised to know that Canada has one of the best reputations in the world for a free press, but that doesn’t mean we’re perfect.

Indeed, I attended a talk Friday featuring Suzanne Legault, Canada’s Information Commissioner, and Miriam Nisbet, director of the Office of Government Information Services in the United States, and the general conclusion was that more information in the hands of the citizenry, not less, is key to our economic, political, social and environmental future.

Journalists have been saying this for years, and while politicians and government officials talk a good line, most do not walk it nearly as well.

Despite the fact many public officials know in their hearts or proclaim during speeches that giving people more information will benefit everyone, many still cannot seem to part with it easily.

That was at the root of access to information legislation in Canada and many other countries, legislation that requires constant improvement and updating.

Canada’s is a quarter of a century old and in desperate need of a refresh.

For example, only 20 per cent of all those asking for information in Canada get all the information they requested, down from 40 per cent years ago. That current figure is 40 per cent in the United States and 60 per cent in the United Kingdom.

Like a free press, freedom of information legislation is a cornerstone of democracy.

Yet there are endless examples — from the federal government muzzling scientists to universities that are stingy with information to municipalities that simply haven’t the time or inclination to make records public — that indicate we too often forget this.

It’s true: access to information operations are costing more money each year, mostly because there are more requests.

Indeed, staff are overwhelmed by requests.

But it’s worth remembering not only that it’s the cost of a functioning democracy, but also it would be a lot cheaper if officials didn’t insist on holding on so tightly to every detail, and fighting journalists (often for years) who are trying to pry it loose.

The open data movement, an attempt to get public organizations to release vast quantities of data to the public so we can leverage it for the good of everyone, has a long, long way to go, unfortunately.

Governments perhaps don’t have the time, they just can’t bring themselves to let go, or they simply don’t care.

Any way you look at it, we are doing ourselves and society a disservice.

We live in the information age. Information is money. An informed citizenry is a competitive citizenry.

A competitive nation — or community — is a prosperous one. What are we waiting for?