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Weekly UpdatesBritish Columbia is too slow in responding to information requests from the public under the Freedom of Information (FOI) process, according to a government watchdog.
In his report released in February, David Loukidelis, the province's information and privacy commissioner, highlights "what can only be described as an unacceptable pattern of government-wide failure to respond to access requests in as timely a fashion as it should."
The government is required to respond within 30 business days to an FOI request. But it is late almost one-third of the time, Loukidelis found.
According to Loukidelis, the delays are at least partly caused by the province's complicated approval process--some information requires as many as 12 people to sign off before it can be released. Other factors that delay the process include poor records management and complex cross-ministry consultations, he said.
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Canwest News Service found that the government processed 5,999 FOI requests last year, with an average response time of 35 business days. Business and public bodies received on-time responses between 79% and 94% of the time. However, Loukidelis said he found "disturbing" delays for media, political parties, and special interest groups. For media requests, the government was on-time only 49% of the time; for political parties, responses were on-time 53% of the time.
"It shouldn't matter who you are or why you're asking for information," said Loukidelis, who has asked the government to end its use of sensitivity ratings to flag FOI requests from certain sources.
Labour and Citizens' Services Minister Iain Black, whose ministry oversees the FOI process, told Canwest that media and political party requests take longer because they usually seek a large amount of information. He also promised to end the sensitivity rating policy and to protect the anonymity of FOI requesters "to the greatest extent possible."
In January, the government announced its plans to create a central office for FOI staff to increase efficiencies and ensure rules are applied uniformly across ministries. Black said the central office will also decrease the average cost of processing an FOI request, which is currently $2,200 (Cdn.).
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