Austerity obliterates transparency: budget cuts mean cuts to Canada's Freedom of Information

A reader writes, "Yet another voice calling attention to the ever narrowing access to information in Canada as the Harper Government repeatedly thumb their nose at the Canadian Access to Information Act." And the CBC's Meagan Fitzpatrick reports:

Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault reported today that the federal government's budget cuts could jeopardize a "fragile" access to information system that has been improving... Legault said the access to information areas within government departments tend to be vulnerable when there are cuts and she has already heard from some requestors that they've been told their files are being delayed because of cuts.

Budget cuts threaten access to information, watchdog says

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: austerity • canada • economics • foia • politics • transparency

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The Snowden Principle

rocketpjs

The Conservative party of Canada knows full well that evidence and information tend to have a left wing bias. They don’t need that nonsense, because they have faith and are RIGHT. Evidence to the contrary must be suppressed because it gets in the way of what is RIGHT goddammit.
http://rhinocrisy.org/ saurabh

My best buddy, a Northerner, the other day regaled me with tales of Conservative information-hatred. Not only are they making the census un-mandatory (since, you know, an accurate appraisal of the population might provide fodder for legitimate grievances), destroying a basic function of government, they are also, get this, dismantling the Canadian Archives, because knowing Canadian history might provide fodder for legitimate grievances.

http://www.cautbulletin.ca/en_article.asp?articleid=3231
- elix
  
  Next up, StatsCan is declared an enemy of the state and dismantled.
  
  Followed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Who needs that thing, anyway?