Bob Mackin
When Premier David Eby’s NDP government tabled amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act on Feb. 26, its news release said the aim was ”to improve the experience of people” using the FOI system.
In 1992, the NDP government under Premier Mike Harcourt passed the original law and one of the architects was lawyer Rob Botterell, a 2024-elected Green Party MLA (Saanich North and the Islands).
During second reading debate on March 11, Botterell spent 100 minutes explaining why the law is needed and why the amendments — which empower bureaucrats to arbitrarily delay or deny information requests — are not.
“This is not just any legislation. Freedom of information is the foundation of open, transparent and accountable democratic government — period,” Botterell said. “Bill 9 represents the culmination of a 34-year effort of the NDP and other governing parties to convert freedom of information to freedom from information.”
Conservative Gavin Dew (Kelowna-Mission) called Bill 9 “an assault on freedom of information, it is an assault on transparency, and it is a consistent theme with this government.”
Dew also said Bill 9 follows in the footsteps of 2021’s Bill 22, which imposed a $10 tax on FOI requests: “That spirit of believing that the people do not deserve access to their own information.”
CLICK AND WATCH MLA Gavin Dew’s comments about Bob Mackin
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