Canada: Governments are working hard to keep us in the dark

Bryan Stawychny reports:

Unscrupulous governments across Canada are increasingly using privacy legislation to keep the public in the dark.

Premier Gordon Campbell, within days of his 2001 election, slashed the budget of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, making information requests almost pointless. Adopting Stephen Harper’s tactic of “secret government,” he has altered the purpose of B.C.’s formerly robust Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Campbell’s Amendment 21 to Bill 30 made joint projects between the government and private industry secret for 50 years. Public-private partnerships and the privatization of services, in many sectors, are beyond public scrutiny.

Read more in The Province.

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