Metro - Freedom of information policy becomes election issue

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Freedom of information policy becomes election issue

Paul McLeod
14 May 2009 12:15

Freedom of information advocates saw good signs Wednesday, as quicker, cheaper access to information became an election campaign issue for opposition parties.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil promised to cut the fee for a Freedom of Information request from $5, down from $5. He also said his government would review the time it takes to fulfill a request.

"It's about accountability," McNeil said. "It's about allowing ordinary Nova Scotians to have access to the information that they should be entitled to."

The Right to Know Coalition has been lobbying for such moves for years.

"That's a good start," said coalition president Darce Fardy.

"I was very pleased with that. And that they might do something to address waiting times, which is something that we've also had a problem with. Sometimes people are waiting 18 months."

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Metro Halifax

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Thousands not getting sales tax break because of rebate

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rules, Dexter says
By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Tue. Feb 3 - 5:43 AM

Thousands of Nova Scotians who heat with electricity aren’t getting the sales tax break they should be getting, according to the NDP.

The province says it rebates the eight per cent provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax on electricity used for heat. It assumes people use an average of 27.4 kilowatt hours of power a day for lights and appliances, and amounts above that are for heat and have the rebate applied.

But the government’s number-crunching is flawed because there are people who don’t meet the rebate threshold, even though they heat with electricity, NDP Leader Darrell Dexter says.

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"Those households, by and large, would be the one-bedroom, two-bedroom apartment kind of homes," Mr. Dexter said in an interview Friday.

"Generally, I think it’s fair to understand that those would be the poor people, those would be the lowest-income people who would be losing the HST rebate."

He pointed to Nova Scotia Power billing statistics, which show 21,611 customers who say they heat with electricity solely had used less than 10,000 kilowatt hours a year, or 27.4 kilowatt hours a day.

The statistics, from 2004, were included in the response to an NDP freedom of information request for the province’s analysis on the electricity rebate threshold. More recent statistics could not be obtained Monday.

The amount of money at stake would differ by customer. If someone used 2,000 kilowatt hours for heat, the rebate should be about $19; if it’s 5,000 kilowatt hours, it’s about $47.

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