FOI SCAM IN CANADA

The Waterloo Region Record carried the following story back on June 23, 2012 : "Canada lagging in access to information". Canada currently is tied for 51st position in the world when it comes to freedom of information rankings. The Federal Law took effect way back on July 1, 1983 and to date has not been updated in any fashion. Canada apparently languishes behind such avante garde locales as Angola, Columbia and Niger. Wow! "Canada's lax timelines, imposition of access fees, lack of a proper public interest overide and blanket exemptions for certain political offices all contravene international standards for the right of access.". There are a total of 89 countries with some form of freedom of information legislation. 51st while not the worst possible outcome certainly doesn't promote confidence in our government's transparency or accountability. Sad to say this failure of our government is not just at the federal level. Try getting data and information out of any level of government. Clearly the governments themselves view freedom of information as an imposition. Worse yet they immediately go on the defensive assuming every request is actually a hidden attack upon themselves. Clearly our governments at all levels have a lot of guilt built up and a lot to hide from their own citizens. Lying to the population has been elevated to an art form and legislation to expose that is not met with favour. Be on the lookout for any updated or amended legislation in the future. I expect that there will be more not less loopholes inserted into new legislation.