Access-to-Information

The Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom has named Ken Rubin, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Free Expression, as its 2018-19 recipient of the Spencer Moore Award for Lifetime Contributions in pursuit of press freedom and freedom of information.  In its announcement, the CCWPF recognized Rubin as “a tireless advocate for freedom of expression. He has helped promote improvements in freedom of information and privacy protection legislation in Canada, including amending the federal access act to penalize officials for record alteration violations.”

Entering the Secrecy Club: Judges, the PM  and PMO Head the List in Bill C-58    By Ken Rubin April 29, 2019 - Judging from the Senators' orchestrated recent cave-in removing the public from getting individual judges expenses, Canada's access to information act is well on its way to being made irrelevant.  What the judges' lobby organizations succeeded in doing, without having to go in-camera to twist arms, was to remove from Bill C-58 any traceable idea of what individual judges spend. 

By Ken Rubin   April 1, 2019 - The Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee is winding its way, clause by clause through Bill C-58. But they have already approved the most divisive change to the Access to Information Act.  That's by their agreeing to divide the Access to Information Act into two parts – one for accessible operational records (part 1) and one outside the Access Act's reach only for government promoted records (part 2).

By Ken Rubin January 28, 2019 - The new year brings with it at least four basic problems that put transparency under threat.  Problem one: “pro-active” sanitized data and propaganda dominates Bill C-58 Canadian government officials and politicians like to spin their messages and manipulate records.No better example of this is found in Bill C-58 where the government gives itself license to post at itsr own pace, and then unilaterally destroy when convenient,government “free” sanitized or selected summary information.

There’s been a ceasefire in the “legal Twitter war” between Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and three people who sued him for blocking them from his Twitter account.  The three plaintiffs argued that in blocking them, Mayor Watson was violating their constitutional right to free expression.   Eventually Watson and the plaintiffs reached a legal settlement.  But initially the Mayor’s position was that he would fight the suit on the grounds that the Twitter account in question was held in his personal and not mayoral capacity and therefore, constitutional rights weren’t applicable.  

Nov. 19, 2018 — Ambulance New Brunswick is the 2018 recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the provincial category. The award is given annually by The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University (CFE), News Media Canada and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) to call public attention to government departments and agencies that put extra effort into denying public access to government information to which the public has a right under access to information legislation.