A non-partisan, equal-opportunity scandal |
Any Canadian journalist will tell you that prying information out of governments at all levels is hard enough as it is: our freedom-of-information (also known as FOI or ATIP) laws are easily, and often, circumvented. There are exemptions aplenty and very little oversight. Penalties for breaking the law by improperly withholding or destroying records are severe but never — truly never, as in, not once — enforced.
Freedom-of-information laws allow anyone to ask a government for any document it produces, like emails and memos, invoices and contracts, even handwritten sticky notes. The laws are imperfect; they allow for fees that can add up fast, into the thousands of dollars. They also have exemptions that prevent, say, investigative materials or national security secrets from being turned over, but those exemptions are also subject to abuse. Legislated timelines are routinely flouted at all levels.
Despite their built-in weaknesses, FOI laws are fundamental to........