While responses from government officials varied widely across the country, there was a disturbing inclination toward secrecy in many government offices, the audit found.
In all, basic questions about health-care spending, crime, pesticide use and emergency preparedness posed to government officials were denied in 31 per cent of cases, despite the fact the information requested was not controversial and should be readily available. In some cases, requests were met with lengthy delays or hefty fees.
"Governments cannot be held accountable when freedom of information laws are flouted," said Anne Kothawala, president and CEO of the Canadian Newspaper Association. "We're talking about a fundamental democratic right."
http://tinyurl.com/j9vsx
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 25, 2006]
Note: http://tinyurl.com/j9vsx
"Culture Of Secrecy" Around Public Data
Posted on Saturday, September 23 at 19:02 by 4CanadaContributed By
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certain information which the general public needs to know? <br />
<br />
Basi, Virk and Basi, arrested after the police raided the BC Legislature, <br />
were in B.C. Supreme Court on 18 September 2006 ... I only found out <br />
about this because I had telephoned the Attorney-General's office. There <br />
certainly wasn't any advance notice in the media. <br />
<br />
When 18 September came and went, without a syllable published in the <br />
news, I e.mailed the CanWest daily paper in Victoria. To read what they <br />
said, go to: <a href="http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com">http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com</a> ... otherwise, you <br />
might not believe it. <br />
<br />
And to this day, 23 Sept., I cannot find out what was decided in that <br />
courtroom. It was a pre-trial hearing, the A-G's office explained, to <br />
determine if Prosecution and Defence had all the documents they <br />
needed to go to trial. It was very important. <br />
<br />
So my unanswered questions are: are they ready to go to trial? If so, on <br />
what date? If not, the next hearing is on what date? And will we ever <br />
find out whether organized crime has infiltrated the government, as Sgt <br />
Ward suggested on 29 Dec., the day after 32 policemen hauled boxes of <br />
evidence out of the B.C. Ministries of Finance and Transportation. <br />
<br />
Talk about a Culture of Secrecy around Public Data !!!