Thread by @djcummings

The FOI system is broken, with fees, delays and redactions all being used today to prevent access. But the NDP’s Bill 22 will make it significantly worse #bcpoli #bill22failure 1/13 theorca.ca/resident-pod/w…

The @BCLiberalCaucus is one of the most frequent users of the FOI system, and so far this year has filed 2,180 FOI requests to ministries, crown corporations, health authorities, school boards, and other agencies and jurisdictions 2/13

The high volume of requests from the Opposition reflects a number of factors. In many cases, gathering information on a single topic requires multiple FOI requests as responsive records can exist in more than one ministry, school district, health authority etc 3/13

In addition, requests the government considers broad are assessed significant fees and therefore must be framed as narrowly as possible, which can significantly increase the total number of FOI requests 4/13

Submitting monthly recurring requests is also critical to understanding government decisions, and the Opposition submits hundreds of requests annually for documents such as calendars and lists of briefing notes 5/13

Recurring requests for calendars of senior staff or lists of the briefing notes gives the public insight into issues the government is grappling with, and allows for focused further FOI requests. Why aren’t these proactively disclosed? 6/13

As the @BCInfoPrivacy said this week, “Oppositions gathering information about how government systems are running is part of a free flowing properly functioning democracy” #freedomofinformation 7/13

But the NDP has tried to deny the legitimate work of the Opposition, with Horgan calling such FOI requests “designed for a political benefit,” and government lawyers trying unsuccessfully to shut down hundreds of requests as “frivolous or vexatious” 8/13

This is what the independent @BCInfoPrivacy ruled on that NDP argument: “the Opposition has a genuine and serious interest in requesting and receiving these records. I am satisfied the Opposition’s access requests were not made in bad faith” 9/13 oipc.bc.ca/orders/2342

While the NDP lost the argument prior to Bill 22, they are now changing the rules. Instead of “frivolous or vexatious” the section of the act is being amended so government will only need to show the requests are “repetitious or systematic” 10/13

The NDP also recently lost to the Opposition when the independent @BCInfoPrivacy ruled that the government had to create screenshot type records. Having lost at ‘court’ they are now exempting any records of “metadata” from FOI through Bill 22 11/13 oipc.bc.ca/orders/3515

Most significantly, the application of a $25 toll for every request will without any doubt significantly reduce, limit and hamper the legitimate work of the Opposition 12/13

The government has decided it is up to them to determine what is legitimate Opposition research, and what is designed for a political benefit and should therefore be limited. Ultimately, Bill 22 is a scandalous and outrageous undermining of government accountability 13/13 #bcpoli