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A scathing new report from B.C.’s information and privacy commissioner has found that the provincial government “is systematically failing to abide by the law.”
When politicians break the law, it’s something we should all pay attention to. It’s also something the government must fix.
Over the past three years, the B.C. government has frustrated the public’s access to information rights.
When people file a request to see government documents, a clock starts. Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), the B.C. government has 30 days to provide the requested documents.
There are specific situations where the government can request an extension. But in more than 5,100 instances in the last three years, the government unlawfully missed its 30-day deadline without bothering to get an extension, according to the report.
That’s worrying for many reasons.
First, freedom of information is vital to democracy.
It’s because of FIPPA legislation that journalists and taxpayers learned of some of the worst examples of government waste. Remember the $8 million barn the federal government built at Rideau Hall? Or the more than 110,000 federal bureaucrats taking six-figure salaries? How about the former Thompson-Nicola Regional District CAO who racked up almost $200,000 in “irregular expenses,” including a luxury champagne room and lavish dinners? How about that time TransLink executives lied about taking a pay cut during the pandemic?
Those all came to light because of freedom of information requests.
To have democracy, there must be accountability. And to have accountability, taxpayers must be able to see how the government is spending their money.
Accountability also means politicians must abide by the law. But Eby is ignoring that principle when it comes to transparency.
Since Eby came to power, the premier’s office has been the worst government ministry when it comes to responding to FIPPA requests.
In 2021, under then-premier John Horgan, the premier’s office took an average of 57 days to respond to freedom of information requests.
After Eby assumed the position, the response time for the premier’s office ballooned to 126 days in 2022 and 269 days in 2023. That’s a 372-per-cent increase in just three years. And that’s about nine times longer than the 30-day response time the law permits.
Other departments are also failing taxpayers. In 2021, the average response time across government ministries was 57 days, which has since increased to 85 days—almost three times as long as the law allows.
B.C.’s New Democrats also introduced a new system where people are hit with fees before they receive requested documents. Those fees can be massive and can reach tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the request.
To give one example, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation requested documents on bonuses paid out to University of British Columbia executives and were slapped with a $28,000 invoice. Hiding public records behind a paywall makes it expensive for taxpayers to peer into the inner workings of government.
Often it seems like the provincial government and taxpayer-funded organizations try to run out the clock to avoid releasing documents, or bank on making the process so expensive and time-consuming that concerned taxpayers give up.
There must be penalties for failing to meet basic requirements under FIPPA. Numerous U.S. states impose fines on public organizations that don’t meet their requirements under freedom of information laws. B.C. should do the same. The provincial government should also remove its fees to access information, increase proactive disclosures and take their legal obligations under FIPPA seriously.
Carson Binda is the B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
