The previous B.C. government routinely broke the freedom of information law by missing deadlines and failing to respond to access requests in a timely manner, a new report shows.
Drew McArthur, acting information and privacy commissioner, said the former Liberal government exceeded the 30-day time limit and any legitimate time extensions in one of every five cases in 2016-17.
“This should be an extraordinary finding; however, I am concerned that it has instead become normal for government to operate in violation of [the law],” McArthur writes in the 60-page report, Timing is Everything.
“This level of contravention is unacceptable. I find it difficult to imagine a circumstance where government would tolerate its citizens breaking the law 20 per cent of the time, yet this is the circumstance in which government found itself.”
McArthur said the findings are particularly troubling given that his office has seen a 75 per cent increase in requests for time extensions over the past two years.
“Time extensions under [the law] are intended to be the exception rather than the norm,” he writes.
Minister of Citizens’ Services Jinny Sims said she’s still reviewing the report, but said the new NDP government will improve timeliness and make government more transparent.
“We do have to do in-depth consultation,” she said.
“We’re not planning to take years, but on the other hand, it can’t be done within 60 days, either.
“So what we want to do is make sure that we get this right so that British Columbians can have a government that is open, transparent, accountable and they get the information in a timely manner, but at the same time balancing the absolute necessity to protect privacy.”
Liberal critic Steve Thomson said in a statement that the report shows the previous government made “some progress” in improving response times, but that more work needs to be done.
“The commissioner lays out recommendations and I expect the minister will implement them to ensure British Columbians are getting the information they request,” he said.
The review, which was carried out this year, examined 194 randomly selected files to assess government’s response to information requests from April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2017.
McArthur acknowledged that the number of access requests has increased to nearly 10,000 a year from about 6,000 in 2008. But he argues that’s no excuse for missing legislated deadlines.
“Government may be receiving more access requests now compared to when [the law] was first enacted, but the law does not permit non-compliance simply because more people are exercising their rights,” he said.
The report calls on government to “take whatever action is necessary” to comply with the law, allocate more resources to close overdue files and expand its proactive disclosure program.
