Several transparency groups, including B.C. FIPA, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), and various journalism schools across the province, have been critical of proposed legislation that would impose $25 tariff on requests for information made under the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The proposed legislation, Bill 22, was tabled in the provincial legislature on October 18 by Lisa Beare, the minister of citizens’ services. In addition to the so-called “prescribed application fee”, the legislation, if passed, would also add additional loopholes to allow departments and/or agencies to avoid accountability for not fulfilling a request.
You can read more about the government’s plan here and the coalition of groups opposed to here.
