SECRECY AND DEMOCRACY, a forum to be held on Tuesday, September 28 at 7 pm at Alumni Hall, King's College

Image by Pete Fletch via FlickrThe Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia, along with the Nova Scotia Freedom of Information Review Office and the Canadian Association of Professional Access and Privacy Administrators are sponsoring SECRECY AND DEMOCRACY, a forum to be held on Tuesday, September 28 at 7 pm at Alumni Hall, University of King's College Fred Vallance-Jones of King's School of Journalism who will speak about the Freeom of Information audit which he compiled for the Canadian Newspaper Association.


The forum will include a lively panel discussion of the audit and secrecy in government generally and provide an opportunity for questions. We are now looking for panelists from government, the media and others..



Darce Fardy
President
Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia

Coalition head not buying More’s reasons - Right to Know Coalition leader says study on gambling should be released

Coalition head not buying More’s reasons

Right to Know Coalition leader says study on gambling should be released

PAUL MCLEOD

METRO HALIFAX 

May 04, 2010 12:00 a.m.

The head of a freedom of information advocacy group is complimenting one provincial minister and shaking his head at another.

Transportation Minister Bill Estabrooks should be congratulated for ordering the release of studies around whether to build a new trade centre, said Darce Fardy, head of the Right to Know Coalition and former freedom of information review officer for the province.

Department staff had been heavily censoring the reports before Estabrooks’ decree.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/local/article/518073--coalition-head-not-buying-more-s-reasons

We're trying something new. After a suggestion from a SIMSA student at their Orientation Week Associations Display last week (see previous post), RTKNS now has a Facebook presence.(I draw the line at Second Life though ;) . We'll figure out how to incorporate this media into our portfolio as we go, so bear with us.

Check us out at http://dal.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5339209767 or just search for Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia in Facebook.

Cheers,
Greg
RTKNS Web Admin

January 8, 2007 - THE RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION OF NOVA SCOTIA VISITS THE LEGISLATURE.


2007 Greg Pemberton

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.



Two members of the board of the RTKNS Coalition, and an active volunteer went to the legislature on Monday evening, January 8, 2007 to deliver a letter written to all MLAs to ask for their support for three recommendations for improving the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPOP): lower the fees for using the Act (the highest in Canada); make the Review Office an office of the legislature (as it is in every other jurisdiction in Canada); and make it an offence to reveal the names of applicants except those who must have the information in order to process the application. (See letter on website)

The Liberal Party opposition has already tabled a bill that would lower the fees. On Monday night the Liberal member for Halifax Clayton Park, Diana Whelan, introduced a notice of motion supporting the recommendations found in the letter. (See notice of motion on website.)

The interim Liberal leader, Michel Samson, came to the lobby to meet our delegation.

The Minister of Justice, the Honourable Murray Scott, also came out of the legislature to meet briefly with our delegation and offered to meet again at a time he was not required to be in his seat. He reaffirmed that the Department was seriously considering the effect of the application fees on Nova Scotians’ right to information. The coalition recently received a reply from the Minister to an earlier letter from the coalition. (See website)

The leader of the Official Opposition, Darrell Dexter (New Democratic Party), introduced the delegation from the floor of the legislature while we sat in the gallery, and met briefly with us later in the evening. The Opposition Justice Critic, Kevin Deveaux, met with the delegation for twenty minutes in the Legislative Library.

Other MLA’s approached us throughout the evening.

The delegation believed it saw a very positive attitude towards improving the FOIPOP Act.

During the session of the legislature before Christmas, a Select Committee on Participation in the Democratic Process was announced. We believe the intention is to hold meetings throughout the province. We encourage those who are interested in openness and accountability in government to appear before the committee when it comes to town. Let them know you share the RTKNS Coalition’s firm view that there cannot be a successful democracy without citizen participation in the process and without access to government information.

Darce Fardy
President
Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia
(902) 422-1481
darce@eastlink.ca
www.nsrighttoknow.ca