Access Requests

[jdobbin]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ional/Politics/

OTTAWA -- Public requests for documents are being slowed by lengthy reviews in the central department that reports to the prime minister, the Information Commissioner says.

While Stephen Harper's Conservatives campaigned on opening up the access-to-information system, Information Commissioner Robert Marleau said the government's own statistics show that responses to the public's requests for information are slowing down "across the board."

Access-to-Information and Privacy co-ordinators in federal departments are grumbling that efforts to answer requests are being delayed by lengthy consultations with other departments, and especially the Privy Council Office, which serves the prime minister.

"What I'm getting from the ATIP co-ordinating community right now is, 'What can you do to help us, get this consultative process to accelerate? Because we're getting the blame, we're getting an 'F' for the department, when the consultation process, over which we have no control, takes an awful lot of time,' " Mr. Marleau said.

"They feel that time is increasing, and that consultation with PCO is taking longer than it used to."

The number of complaints from the public has shot up dramatically in 2007, doubling since April 1 over the same period last year, he said. There were 1,257 complaints to the commissioner's office in 2006-2007.

And still no law introduced to improve access. Just another broken Tory promise.

By the way, the title comes straight from the Globe headlines today.

[jdobbin]

It is too bad the Tories have not followed up on their promise to improve access. How much longer will it take?

Almost two years later, however, the Conservative government has failed to table the bill they promised to reform the access system.

And the Conservatives are now using the same excuse for refusing to release documents that they railed against in opposition: the assertion that a minister's office, including the Prime Minister's Office, is not covered by the access law. Mr. Marleau's predecessor, John Reid, took the previous Liberal government to court to contest that claim, and Mr. Marleau is continuing the case.

"If you exclude that range of activity and documentation and information, it's one giant loophole," Mr. Marleau said.

The federal government has expanded the coverage of the existing act to more Crown corporations, their subsidiaries and several boards and agencies. But the Conservatives have not followed through on their campaign pledge to table a new access law, as drafted by Mr. Reid.

[jbg]

Why, to add another bill that gets mangled in Committee? Or perhaps the CPC should make their version a confidence bill?

Whoops, you wouldn't like that either.

[Shakeyhands]

Why, to add another bill that gets mangled in Committee? Or perhaps the CPC should make their version a confidence bill?

Whoops, you wouldn't like that either.

? I don't quite get you cynicism. Are the CPC incapable of just doing what they said they were going to do on this?

This act of throwing your hands up on things you don't really want to do is getting old.

[jdobbin]

? I don't quite get you cynicism. Are the CPC incapable of just doing what they said they were going to do on this?

This act of throwing your hands up on things you don't really want to do is getting old.

I don't hear any opposition to the legislation either. Why would a confidence motion even be needed for something all other parties agree on?

[jbg]

I don't hear any opposition to the legislation either. Why would a confidence motion even be needed for something all other parties agree on?

The devil is always in the details of what's in such a law. It would not be beyond the LPOC to insert irresponsibile provisions that they themselves wouldn't live with in government, as the Liberals did with Kyoto implementation.

[Argus]

It is too bad the Tories have not followed up on their promise to improve access. How much longer will it take?

First you post this, then you reply to your own post? May I ask why? It would seem to make no sense to me as you could simply have put your question in the initial post.

What does your party propose as an alternative to the present system, jdobbin? Those of us whose memories go back more than two years recall that the Liberal government was notoriously opposed to letting out _any_ information to the public on _anything_. You even sued your own information commissioner and starved him of funds.

[BubberMiley]

Perhaps as an alternative, they could live up to their election promises.

[jdobbin]

First you post this, then you reply to your own post? May I ask why? It would seem to make no sense to me as you could simply have put your question in the initial post.

What does your party propose as an alternative to the present system, jdobbin? Those of us whose memories go back more than two years recall that the Liberal government was notoriously opposed to letting out _any_ information to the public on _anything_. You even sued your own information commissioner and starved him of funds.

I bumped the thread up. I had mentioned the freedom of information access promise in another thread and remembered the point about the Tory promise to improve access.

I happened to agree with the Tory promise on increasing freedom of information access. I thought it was an excellent election promise.

The Liberals did a terrible job on access and I thought the Tory promise would make for more responsible government.

At present, I hear no opposition to introduction of legislation on the subject. I wish they would go ahead with it. Why is that every government that gets into power tries to make everything secret?

[jdobbin]

Perhaps as an alternative, they could live up to their election promises.

I don't understand the Tory resistance to getting the legislation introduced.