+

The Right to Know

UBC Journalism
March 18, 2021
Kirk LaPointe
+
Today’s objectives

 History, laws, practices of freedom of information.

 Sort through the challenges.

 Develop some ideas.

 Learn and discuss some tips.

 Test the system by filing group requests.

+
My information law connection

 More than 3,000 requests personally filed.

 More than 10,000 requests filed by newsrooms I’ve managed.

 More than 2,000 stories created. Affordably.

 Work with organizations that encourage government, institutional

transparency.
+
Framework: Our job as citizens

 Responsibility to participate in democratic processes: voting, making

representations, protesting, among others.

 Exercise our rights in a democracy.

 Push for greater transparency, accountability at least with institutions

we finance.

 Hope that it influences culture for the private sector.

 Obligations to empower ourselves and others. Demand informal

disclosure before resorting to the law.

 Use it or lose it.

+
What is freedom of information?

 Laws that permit citizens to request records in the control of federal,

provincial and municipal bodies.

 Laws that define accessible and restricted records.

 Laws that, in principle, make information available.

 Laws that, in principle, require exemptions to be specific and limited

and provide independent oversight.

 Laws that are balanced by privacy laws to protect personal

information (we can ask for our own, but not easily about someone
else’s information).
+
Some history

 Sweden Freedom of the Press Act, 1766.

 More than 130 countries feature right-to-information laws.

East/Central Europe best, developed countries worst.

 U.S. Freedom of Information Act, 1967, state laws followed, FOI

amended to reflect electronic records in 1996, many open-meeting
laws.

 Canadian Access to Information Act 1983, amended following 9/11,

amended again in 2008.

 Provinces and municipalities now have similar Freedom of

Information laws.
+
Canada’s situation

 One of the first 10 countries to enact the law.

 Thirty-five years later, no significant amendments to widen access, some

amendments to restrict.

 Underfinanced government and institutional support, pressure to increase

fees to self-finance law.

 No significant specific information lobby/organization.

 Strong criticism from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Canadian

Committee for World Press Freedom, Centre for Law and Democracy.

 Most recent Centre report: Canada scored 93 of 150 points.

+
The process can be . . .

 Costly.

 Cumbersome.

 Slow-moving and time-consuming.

 Bureaucratic.

 Filled with gamesmanship.

+
Who uses it federally?

 Business: 40 per cent. (Corporate snooping.)

 Citizens: 40 per cent. (Inmates, interested people.)

 Journalists: 10 per cent. (News stories.)

 Researchers: 10 per cent. (Special-interest groups.)

 Provincial: higher special-interest and journalists.

 Municipal: much higher use by journalists (nearly 50%)

+
What the laws can get . . .5-S’s.

 Spending details: expenses by individuals and entities.

 Statement background: briefing notes, q-and-a, talking points.

 Self-reflection: evaluations, reviews, audits of activities.

 Sequels: post-mortems, post-scripts, follow-up records.

 Secrets of cabinet: minutes and records of yesteryear.

 Records created/controlled by government or institutions.

+
What is subject to the law?

 Government departments, ministries, offices, many Crown

corporations.

 B.C.: municipalities, school boards, hospitals, health boards,

universities, self-regulating bodies (College of Teachers, College of
Physicians, Law Society, among others).
+
What the law won’t give . . .

 Personal information.

 Corporate or trade secrets that affect commercial interests.

 Ongoing investigations.

 Political, as opposed to departmental, records.

 Records that might be disclosed within 60/90 days.

+
More of the bad news

 Cabinet confidences <15 years (provincial) or <20 (federal)

 Legal/policy advice.

 Harmful to police enforcement.

 Harmful to government-to-government relations.

 Harmful to public safety, business interests, economics of public

body.

 Information to be disclosed within 60 days (provincial) or 90 days

(federal).
+
Process: How you use the law

 Determine where the information is.

 Make a request with that department/institution to a specific office

staffed to handle freedom of information.

 Provide application fees if necessary.

 Negotiate refinement to the request if necessary.

 Provide additional fees if necessary.

 Receive what the government/institution provides.

 Determine if you need to appeal to Information Commissioner.

+
The bad news: Fees and handling

 Federally, a five-dollar fee to cover first five hours of search.

 Provincially/municipally, no fees up front, three free hours of search.

 Acknowledgment, but not answers, quickly.

 Target of 30-day response time, but delays are frequent.

 Or: Estimate provided of additional time needed to search.

 You choose: abandon and fine-tune a new request, or pay half the
estimate immediately to continue with the request.
+
More bad news: Value for dollar

 Federal fees: $10/hour, but no preparation fees.

 Provincial fees: $30/hour, including preparation fees.

 Municipal fees: $30/hour, including preparation fees.

 More fees possible for photocopying, computer time, disks.

 No guarantee you will get what you seek.

 No standard on search, preparation.

 You can appeal to the Information Commissioner to review what you

were provided, but he/she has no legal authority.
+
The good news (there isn’t much)

 The system can work.

 Many government/institutional employees in freedom of information are

advocates of the public right to know.

 Government required to release any information requested that has a clear

public interest in disclosure.

 If at first you do not succeed. . .

 Practice makes . . .

 The results can be spectacular.

 There are ways to improve your chances, as we will see.

+
Where to find inspiration

 Every government statement has a trail.

 Every ministerial announcement has a trail.

 Every institutional initiative has a trail.

+
Before you file a request . . .

 Research to determine where the information might be. Improper

search will create delays.

 Research to determine if the information is already available.

Improper research will undermine requests.

 Phone/email the department/institution to ask for the information to

be informally disclosed (today we will bypass that rule).
+
Tips: How to phrase a request

 Find the sweet spot: not too wordy, not too nerdy.

 If possible, try to state what it does and does not include.

 If possible, try to identify the record.

 If not possible, try to avoid a sweeping request because it will be too

expensive to process.

 Records are kept chronologically: Ask for a timeframe.

 Don’t ask for a “document” when it might be an electronic file.

Always ask for “records.”
+
Examples: Good, not-so-good

 Not-so-good: “All documents on refugees.”

 Still not-so-good: “All records on Syrian refugees.”

 Getting better: “All records in 2020 on Syrian refugees.”

 Getting better still: “All records in 2020 on Syrian refugee claimants

who were deported from Canada.”

 Still: “Records in 2020 on Syrian refugee claimants deported from

Canada and the reasons why they were deported.”

 Still: “Records in 2020 on reasons Syrian refugee claimants were

deported from Canada.”
+
Examples: Good, not-so-good

 Not-so-good: “Cabinet documents on the prime minister’s

resignation.”

 Still not-so-good: “Cabinet records leading up to Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney’s resignation.”

 Somewhat better: “Cabinet records from 1993 on Brian Mulroney’s

resignation.”

 Even better: “Cabinet minutes that discuss the 1993 resignation of

Brian Mulroney.”
+
Examples: Good, not-so-good

 Not-so-good: “Health records on Vancouver restaurants.”

 Still not-so-good: “Health inspection records on Vancouver

restaurants.”

 Somewhat better: “Health inspection records in 2021 on Vancouver

restaurants.”

 Even better: “Copies of failed health inspections, including reasons

for failure, in 2021 for Vancouver restaurants.”

 Even better: “Records that indicate which Vancouver restaurants

failed health inspections in 2021 and why.”
+
Let’s get started

 Work in groups of four.

 Look at two or three institutional stories online.

 Determine what you want to know, whether it is possible to get.

 Identify where relevant records might be.

 Phrase a request federally, provincially or municipally with the forms

online (if you file federally, send me the PDF of your request).
+
Relevant links

 Federal Access to Information Act site

 B.C. Freedom of Information Act site

 Vancouver Freedom of Information bylaw site

 Federal directory of activities

 Federal Access to Information form

 Provincial Freedom of Information form

 Municipal Freedom of Information form

+
When you are done. . .

 Send it to me by 12:30 today at kirklapointe@gmail.com.

 I’ll take a look at it and send it back with suggestions by the end of
the weekend.

 One of you will file it electronically (if provincial or municipal) or by

mail (if federal).

 We will wait for your big scoop.