Thread by @bobmackin

🧵Can we believe @bcndp pandemic data? #BCgov has under-tested and made #covid19 case/death reporting errors along the way. I wanted to know how many and whether they were corrected. This is about science and history. I filed an #cdnFOI request last July. #bcpoli #GiveUsData

I asked for B.C.-wide and health region correction and revision notices for March-July 2020. The original due date: Sept. 14. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #coronavirus #GiveUsData #FOIA

Instead of documents, I got a bill for $270. Less than two weeks before @jjhorgan took time off from the #coronavirus pandemic and called a very costly snap election. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #FOIA

In December, I pleaded for a fee waiver. This is about the public interest. I cited the @BCOmbudsperson report about the Ministry of Education’s disinformation. All ministries must be held to the same standard, must communicate accurately to the public. #bcpoli #cdnfoi

My request to cancel the fee was denied. @bcndp again demanded I pay $270 “information ransom” to see documents about #coronavirus data errors and corrections. #bcpoli #GiveUsData #cdnfoi

Under duress and with diminishing faith in @McEvoy_Michael to stand up for freedom of the press (guarding privacy is his priority), I agreed in February to narrow my records request to the month of March 2020. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #GiveUsData #covid19

It took more than a month for @adriandix ministry to cancel the fee. After I had agreed to narrow from five months to one. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #coronavirus

On March 30, I was told they needed until May 14 to do their job and get me the records. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #GiveUsData

Tonight, I got this. Another delay. I won’t get the documents on Friday. Someone at @BCInfoPrivacy bought a sob story from @bcndp #bcgov, so the new deadline is June 28. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #GiveUsData

So I wait and I wonder about the accuracy and reliability of the #coronavirus pandemic data @adriandix and @DrBonnieHenry have delivered to British Columbians. It’s about history and it’s about science. It’s about your right to know. #bcpoli #cdnfoi #covid19

The punchline? Our premier, John Horgan, said this on Nov. 18, 2020: “We're not hiding anything. We have been as transparent as any jurisdiction in North America." 

I call BS. You’re not doing your level best, @jjhorgan.

#bcpoli #cdnfoi