Diana Whalen is the second to respond to Darce's query on Freedom of Information views sent to all four of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership candidates. We welcome her comments and thank her for supporting our cause in the Legislature back in January of this year.

Greg Pemberton
RTKNS Web Administrator

From: Diana Whalen

To: Darce Fardy

Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 10:09 AM

Subject: Re: Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia

Dear Mr. Fardy:

Thank you for the opportunity to give my views on Freedom of Information. First, let me agree with you that transparency and openness are important in the efforts to re-engage citizens and voters in the electoral system.

You may recall that this past January, I introduced a Resolution in the Legislature calling upon the Government to reduce the Freedom of Information fees, and to make the position of Freedom of Information officer report to the Legislature. I believe both of these measures would make information more accessible to citizens, and reinforce the importance of transparency and openness in our democracy.

Diana Whalen

Nova Scotia Liberal Party Leadership 2007

This email was sent out to candidates in the Nova Scotia Liberal Party Leadership Race coming up in April 2007 in order to discover their views on the public's right to know. We will be posting the responses as they come in.

Greg Pemberton
RTKNS Web Admin

-----

The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia is devoted to getting Nova Scotians re-engaged in the political process and more likely to vote. We believe that using our Freedom of Information legislation is a major step towards this objective. We are interested in your views on our Freedom of Information legislation and, in particular, the user fees which are the highest in Canada. We want the fees to be eliminated or at least considerably reduced.

Your comments will be appreciated and will appear on our website.

Regards

Darce Fardy
President
Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia

Former Canadian prime ministers Brian Mulroney, left, Joe Clark, second from left, Paul Marin and Kim Campbell. (CP PHOTO/Aaron Harris)

Even former prime ministers deplore Canadian's lack of engagement in and cynicism towards the political process.

Page A3 of the Globe and Mail of February 22/07 carries a report on a conversation four former prime ministers, Clark, Campbell, Mulroney, and Martin, had as part of a CBC TV program “The New Great Prime Minister”.

All four wrestled with discussions on “the realities of engaging an increasingly disengaged citizenry” in the political process. They agreed that “this disconnect between government and governed” was a cause for worry.

None of the prime ministers appeared to propose a solution to their concerns.

But this is exactly the problem the Nova Scotia Right to Know Coalition wants to confront. We want the public to be aware of their rights to information from government under freedom of information legislation. We think that as they become better informed they will become reengaged with public issues and more inclined to vote.

The Nova Scotia Government could start by removing the unreasonable fees for using our Freedom of Information Act which are now the highest in Canada. It could also help by exercising the kind of transparency and accountability our Act demands of it.

The coalition needs the support of the public. They can help enormously by writing the Premier’s Office as well as their MLAs urging them to take action in support of our campaign.

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

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on FOI Fees:

The law, if it provides for a levy of a fee for getting information must ensure that the fee is reasonable and does not act as a deterrent for asking information and does not end up debarring information from the disadvantaged groups who cannot afford the fees. The law must provide for waiver of fees in certain circumstances.

CHRI has a Right to Information site that provides a guide to what good FOI legislation should include. Links to the site below.

What should a [Right to Information] law contain?
Minimum Standards For Maximum Disclosure

CHRI "believes that the promotion and protection of human rights is the responsibility of governments but that the active participation of civil society acting in concert is vital to ensuring rule of law and the realisation of human rights."

CHRI's Right to Information site

Greg Pemberton
RTKNS Web Admin

This is from the Open Knowledge Foundation Weblog in the UK:

A great day for the law and for the people
December 20th, 2006

Today the Department for Constitutional Affairs’ long awaited Statute Law Database project has launched, free at point of use for anyone. It’s super. Last week, access to consolidated versions of the law of the UK wasn’t possible without paying lots of money. Now it is free.

There are some down sides - 40 acts are not covered at all, law is only guaranteed included up until the end of 2001, and the data only has history of changes back to 1991.

It is almost inconceivable that a citizen would have to pay for the ability to read the text of the laws of their country.

- Greg Pemberton (RTKNS web admin)

Well the fall session of the legislature is over and although there was some hope the fees for using the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act might be addressed no action was taken.

The legislative process can be a complicated one. It appears though that the fees, which appear in the Regulations accompanying the Act, can be lowered without amending the Act. An amendment is required to remove the fees and that, of course, can only be done while the legislature is in session.

In the meantime I encourage everyone to show they want the fees reduced now by contacting their MLAs, the Premier and the Minister of Justice.

On their website, the Coalition has posted an excerpt of the Nov 22, 2006 Nova Scotia Legislative Hansard containing a record of questions asked by Liberal MLA Michel Samson about the status of the hiring of a new Review Officer and about any possible changes in the fees.

View Excerpt: Status of New Review Officer

The Government's delay in appointing a new Review Officer to oversee the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and in pursuing a Liberal opposition bill to lower fees, can only be interpreted as a lack of interest in the Act. When asked by the Liberals in the legislature this week when decisions would be made on these two matters the reply, according to a news report, was 'soon'. The Review Officer position was posted some months ago and interviews of candidates have already taken place. One would understand that the government's apparent lack of interest may persuade good candidates to withdraw from the competition. On behalf of the Coalition, I urge the Government to act on the fees bill during this session of the legislature and to make the appointment to the Review Office immediately. Those who share these same concerns should make it known to the Premier and the Government caucus through their MLAs.

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