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By Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: What is Premier John Horgan trying to hide?

Oct 28, 2021 | 9:51 AM

ONE HAS TO WONDER what is motivating Premier John Horgan and his NDP government to make harsh and damaging changes to B.C.’s freedom of information (FOI) laws.

These laws are about ensuring government is accountable to the people of British Columbia. Individuals, media outlets and members of the opposition often use FOI to obtain information about government decisions and processes.

What does this mean to you? Think about the disastrous wildfire season we just saw. Communities and livelihoods were destroyed, and tragically two people in Lytton even lost their lives. When individuals on the ground tell our MLAs they aren’t getting enough information from government – and our attempts to get those answers are also stymied – we turn to FOI to try to get some documents explaining the government’s rationale for the decisions it has made or the information constituents need in order to move forward.

The FOI process is already a lengthy one, with applicants often waiting months and sometimes even years for documents to be returned. Now the NDP wants to start charging a variety of fees for requests, which will put another obstacle in the way of people’s access to information they have a right to view.

The bill also contains data linking and data storage provisions that could result in British Columbians’ linked information being stored outside of Canada without any oversight.

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In my eight years as MLA, I can’t say I recall many constituents coming to my door expressing any concerns about the current legislation. They certainly weren’t coming around asking for government to make it harder for them to access information.

We also have an Information and Privacy Commissioner with the sole responsibility for upholding the laws of British Columbia when it comes to freedom of information and protection, but he was not adequately consulted with respect to this legislation.

And we have scores of individuals and organizations who are opposed to this bill and how it will further erode transparency and accountability. They are calling for it to be scrapped. The Information and Privacy Commissioner also wrote a scathing seven-page letter outlining how some of the proposals in the bill “…would be a step backward for British Columbia.”

So who is this legislation for? Who is asking for these changes? If such significant amendments to this law were warranted, why weren’t any of these groups consulted? Why is the government putting up more barriers to information instead of tearing them down, at a time when British Columbians are asking for more transparency and accountability — not less?

We don’t know the answers to these and many other questions, because only a few of the NDP’s 57 MLAs actually got up in the legislature to defend the bill. For her part, Minister Lisa Beare repeated the same meaningless talking point when questioned by reporters instead of thoroughly explaining why these changes are necessary.

The NDP is pushing this controversial legislation through without allowing the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) to finish its work. It’s a high-handed effort to circumvent well-established conventions and it is deeply troubling.

The whole tenet of democracy is based on trust and transparency. This is not a dictatorship. John Horgan and the NDP need to come clean about why they’re really making these changes. Their failure to do so just leaves everyone wondering what they’ve got to hide.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.