Access to information not a right, top court told December 15th, 2008 Governments would be fully justified if they were to eliminate all freedom of information provisions in one fell swoop, an Ontario government lawyer told the Supreme Court of Canada yesterday. In a forceful submission at a landmark appeal involving the right of citizens to obtain information from government, Ontario lawyer Daniel Guttman maintained that, far from being a constitutional right, access to information is a privilege bestowed on the citizenry. He urged the judges not to impose any obligation on governments to provide information upon request, since to do so would set a precedent that "runs roughshod" over the court's gradual, careful approach to developing the Charter right to free expression. However, lawyers for the Criminal Lawyers Association said the province has adopted a cavalier approach to information assembled by public servants at public expense."My friend submits that access to information in this country is nothing more than a revocable gift," said David Stratas, a lawyer spearheading the CLA's quest to obtain a suppressed police report on the botched prosecution of two men for the 1998 murder of Toronto gangster Dominic Racco. "My friend kept saying the sky is falling, and presented images of documents flying out of government files," Mr. Stratas continued. But in reality, he said, the CLA is seeking only the right for provincial and federal information commissioners to release any document with a "compelling public interest" component that clearly outweighs government arguments in favour of confidentiality. He warned that, taken to its logical conclusion, the Ontario government's approach could be twisted by a future government to justify imposing absolute secrecy over its activities. "History has shown that one of the first things that anti-democratic leaderships do is to pull a curtain of secrecy around their activities," Mr. Stratas said. Mr. Guttman and lawyers for virtually every province strenuously opposed the CLA's attempt to have the court recognize that, within the right to free expression there is necessarily a right to receive information in government files that would inform public debate. FULL ARTICLE: <http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2008/12/15/access-to-information-not-a-right-top-court-told/>
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