In opposing the BC NDP’s proposed Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) changes, the province’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) has launched a call to action opposing them.
Minister of Citizens Services Lisa Beare unveiled the proposals October 18, saying amendments would give people faster access to services while strengthening privacy protections.
Now, the association is demanding the NDP withdraw Bill 22 – the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2021.
The full-throated response to the bill from critics has been quick and damning.
In a letter to Beare, information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy said he had “deep concern” about several of the BC NDP’s proposed FIPPA changes, particularly one that would allow British Columbians’ data to be stored outside Canada and thus become subject to foreign law.
The government’s response to that has been that technology has changed and B.C. needs to change with it. McEvoy’s response was that the government must demonstrate how foreign-held data would be protected.
McEvoy has also expressed concern that the Office of the Premier (https://bit.ly/3nBcQ8X) would become exempt from scrutiny under the changes, an assertion Beare’s ministry denies. Premier John Horgan’s office has not responded to a request for comment.
However, Horgan did respond to reporters October 21.
“It's not our intention to restrict people's individual access,” Horgan said. “There has been an extraordinary proliferation in requests for information from political parties, and full disclosure, when I was in Opposition, we used the Freedom of Information Act effectively to understand why governments were making decisions.”
Critics have lamented the removal of transparency the changes would bring, and say the amendments would make it harder for opposition politicians, journalists, lawyers, businesses and others to hold government accountable.
The bill allows for initial information access fees, possibly about $25. Critics say that would deter some from asking for government information. For journalists and others who make multiple requests in the public interest, a quickly mounting fee bill is a stumbling block in holding government to account.
“We too often forget the public paid for the production of these records, millions of them, and so they are for that reason as much the public’s property as are roads, schools, and bridges,” investigative journalist Stanley Tromp told the B.C. Special Legislative Committee to review the FOIPP Act in 2016. “The public hence should not have to pay for their production twice, through FOI fees.”
Call to Action
The association got to work reviewing the changes found in Bill 22 immediately after its unveiling.
“We suspected it might be bad,” an association news release said. “On review it is worse than anyone expected.”
“FIPA and others see this government abandoning prior commitments to improve government accountability and eroding the democratic process by making it harder for everyone – concerned citizens, experienced researchers, and regular people – to get the facts rather than spin, the association said.
Indeed, the association said, Bill 22 will undermine access to information and make public bodies less transparent.
“It is a step backwards for openness and accountability, and a missed opportunity to protect the privacy and improve the information rights of British Columbians,” it said.
Moreover, the association said the bill “short-circuits” the work of the special legislative committee established to review the law.
The association is demanding the NDP recognize the role of the all-party special committee set up the review the current law and allow it to complete its work, including an open consultation process.
With its call to action, the association said, “The stakes are high, and we have a very short period of time to make our voices heard. This majority government can ram through this regressive bill, introduced on Monday, October 18, as early as next week. If that happens, it will impact the citizens of British Columbia now, haunt us into the future, and set a dangerous precedent across Canada.”
Other groups including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, The Centre for Law and Democracy, the Canadian Institute for Information and Privacy Studies, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Centre for Assess to Information and Justice and the Wilderness Committee among others have already joined with FIPA to oppose the bill.
“This legislation would extend the ability of current and future governments to keep people in the dark about vital matters of public interest,” the groups said in an open letter to Beare and Premier John Horgan. “Its introduction at this time short-circuits the work of the special legislative committee responsible for reviewing FIPPA, preventing meaningful public consultation. If passed, it would immediately put up more barriers for people seeking access to information.”
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