Information requests are supposed to be handled by bureaucrats who have a “duty to assist” the applicant, but journalist Bob Mackin told the committee the relationship with journalists can be adversarial, the report stated.Īs such, the committee recommends strengthening that duty to assist in the act, “including ensuring public bodies are aware of the duty to assist applicants and requiring public bodies to provide timely, accurate and fulsome assistance to applicants.” It also recommends records related to public procurement processes to be proactively released, including when a process is cancelled.
The committee also recommends public bodies expand proactive disclosures, particularly with categories of records that are regularly requested and released. The committee asks the act clarify that the exception applies only to legal advice provided in confidence and “not any time a lawyer is involved in providing policy or program advice.”
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The committee recommends such exemptions “not extend to facts upon which they are based or for factual, investigative or background material or for the assessment or analysis of such material or for professional or technical opinions.” The report dives into granular details of the act, addressing how there exists a discretionary exception for “advice” or “recommendations” by bureaucrats to be redacted from information requests. The matter led to House clerk Craig James being prosecuted for fraud last month. This issue was at the forefront of public discussion when former House Speaker Darryl Plecas noted in 2018 there was poor oversight of spending on the part of legislature workers. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs views this failure to retain records as a barrier faced by First Nations in accessing government information to substantiate their claims, the committee noted.Īnother big issue addressed by the committee is a recommendation to “extend freedom of information provisions to the administrative functions of the Legislative Assembly and ensure records subject to parliamentary privilege, including those related to the work of members and their constituency offices, remain exempt.” The committee heard of how government officials may make decisions and communicate on matters in person or on the phone and such records are not documented. The committee also recommends adding a “duty to document” to the act, to ensure all public bodies create and manage detailed records of decisions and actions. They also noted that the present reality of data use and storage means that data security is complex and requires an assessment of multiple risks,” the report stated. “Members agreed that data is one of the most valuable commodities and it is important to have a strong regulatory framework in place to protect information, and acknowledged that data held in other jurisdictions is not subject to British Columbia’s laws. However the committee made no recommendation to reverse course but instead suggested government look at developing domestic server capacity. government amended the act in 2021 to allow data storage outside of Canada. The committee touched on data security, including how the B.C. “The Canadian Association of Journalists advised that the government’s intended aim to disincentivize repetitious, vexatious, or politically motivated requests could have been dealt with in a more targeted manner, rather than by charging an application fee,” noted the report. The Ministry of Citizens’ Services reported receiving more than 10,000 freedom of information requests in 2020-21, and that the average cost to process one request is $3,000, the report noted.įees are not charged to persons accessing personal information nor First Nations governing bodies. The committee has recommended changing the response deadline from 30 business days to 30 calendar days.
Instead, it suggests removing the application fee and any applicable processing fee in the event a public body does not meet the statutory response deadline. The committee, however, did not recommend scrapping that new fee. from three parties, was struck following a controversial decision by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services last November to start charging $10 per application for access to information. The committee, comprising eight members of the Legislative Assembly of B.C.
The Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act “recognizes that access to information and protection of privacy are interconnected and vital for promoting trust in public bodies” and as such it has made recommendations requiring “immediate action.” government has work to do to turn around what many advocates of democracy deem to be a culture of secrecy within its access to information system, according to a special committee report tabled to the legislature.