Information access comes under fire
Secrecy a problem, watchdog says Outlines changes he’d like in law
OTTAWA— The federal government isn’t taking seriously the reforms needed to remove secrecy from all levels of government in Canada, according to federal information commissioner John Reid. He was speaking at a special conference the Canadian Newspaper Association ( CNA) convened here yesterday to examine the Access to Information Act, which governments haven’t abided by, provoking harsh criticism in recent months. The act is intended to ensure transparency in government, so Canadians can see the rationale behind government decisions. But a test of the freedom- ofinformation laws the CNA sponsored earlier this year found political interference and the bureaucracy’s culture of secrecy to blame for governments’ frequent denial to release information that those laws stipulate the public has a right to know, especially when media make the request. Both Reid and the CNA have called for changes to the accesstoinformation laws to ensure such refusals cannot be made.
Although the federal justice ministry has promised a new bill this fall, Reid points to Prime Minister Paul Martin’s proposal to merge the two roles of the information commissioner and the federal privacy commissioner into one and questions just how committed Ottawa is to making those reforms.
“ It might cause a cynical person to believe that the government has thrown a merger idea on the table now, merely to justify stalling the reform process until the next election,” said Reid, who went on to say Martin’s proposal is misguided. The CNA yesterday called on Reid to formally and urgently investigate the way governments put up barriers when the media requests information.
“ Freedom of information and freedom of the press are two freedoms hewn from the same stone,” said Anne Kothawala, president and CEO of the CNA.
“ To impede one is to frustrate the other. To deny access is to prevent us from playing the watchdog role that citizens tell us is our core function and their main expectation from us.” The Commons committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics earlier this year asked Reid to provide them with a draft bill outlining the reforms he would like to see adopted. He outlined the general framework of that bill yesterday.
Reid warned that access to information is under serious threat in Canada. It is therefore vital that the pressure is kept on the federal government to reform access to information, especially during the upcoming federal election campaign. He also urged pressure on Justice John Gomery, who is preparing his report on the federal sponsorship scandal, which will include recommendations intended to make governments more transparent to prevent future misuse of public funds.