After promising to give the information and privacy commissioner of Nueva Scotia the power to enforce the decisions, the Houston Government has registered to the office and its supporters when announcing important changes under a new Omnibus law project.
He has led some experts to question the commitment of the province to access the information.
The amendment proposed to the Law on Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection will allow public bodies to reject requests that are “trivial, frivolous or vexate.”
You can also deny the requests that are considered repetitive, excessively broad or not made of good faith.
The measure is to help enable a “more effective use of resources,” says the Department of Justice, which supervises the act. The department says that the province manages more than 400 applications for active information every week.
“We have heard aloud and clearly through our recent commitment that frivolous and vexary requests are a significant burden for public bodies,” said Department spokeswoman Lynette Macleod, in a statement.
Although the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner approved the idea of rejecting frivolous, vexation or abusive requests in a June 2017 ReportWith the warning, the authorization for such denials will come from the commissioner. The proposed legislation will give that authority to public bodies, including government departments.
After the announcement of last week on a ticket, the commissioner was not prepared to comment.
“They did not notify us at all that the change was approaching,” Ralph, commissioner for information and privacy of Nueva Scotia, told Tricia. CBC Mainstreamt.
“It was disappointing for us that we were not consulted about this. We have a lot of experience to give and, therefore, we learned at the same time as all others, so we have to pass and do that analysis.”
According to the new legislation, public agencies would have 14 days to deny requests for freedom of information. The applicant could ask the Ralph office to review, that according to the proposed legislation it should also be done within 14 days.
In recent years, Ralph and his predecessors have expressed about the extensive accumulation of review files and lack of resources to fulfill them in a timely manner.
Events turn
The planned legislative changes are far from the commitments assumed by the Houston Government in 2021, when the Minister of Justice was directed in a ministerial mandate to amend the law to give “ability to make orders to the privacy commissioner.” Two years later, an internal work group began reviewing the legislative framework of access and privacy in Nueva Scotia.
Houston made it clear in the election campaign of the past autumn that had changed his mind since he made the promise in his first mandate.
The announcement of last week leaves Toby Mendel, executive director of the Center for Law and Democracy based in Halifax, questioning the address of access to information in Nueva Scotia.
“It’s a really unfortunate sign, and I’m worried about that,” he said.
Mendel said he is concerned that the supermayitude of the Houston government could lead to a “level of slightly dangerous power that goes back the act.” Progressive conservatives control more than two thirds of the seats in the legislature after the party won 43 of 55 runners in the November 26 elections.
“I have to ask myself what motivates them. When you have so much power, you must be absolutely respectful of democratic controls and balances and not try to limit them or undermine them,” said Mendel.
It also questions the bar of the province to obtain “vexation” applications. Vexatious means annoying and frustrating.
The provincial government said that approximately 16 percent of requests for freedom of information to their departments fell under that category since January 2024.
“I just don’t think about 16 percent can meet that standard,” Mendel said. “My experience for 30 years is that the number is small.”
He said his organization accepts that annoying requests should be rejected, but wants to see “railings around their abuse because otherwise it is too discretionary.”
How other provinces are compared
If the legislative changes are approved in the coming weeks, Nueva Scotia will not be the only province with rules against such applications.
Newfoundland and Labrador approved similar legislation in 2012 that gave decision -making powers to public bodies. The measure ignited public outrage and then changed to give the authority of the review office to deny such applications.
Both New Brunswick and British Columbia also allow the commissioner to authorize public bodies to ignore a request.
Alberta has followed that same model until recently, since the legislative changes in that province are also underway.
“The power to make the decision in the first instance of ignoring a request for access will change the commissioner to the public body. The commissioner will have the power to review the decision of the public body,” said spokeswoman Elaine Schiman for the Information Office and Commissioner of Alberta privacy.
In Nueva Scotia, former NDP MLA Michèle Raymond said his initial reaction to the proposed changes was “serious disappointment.”
“I have waited for a long time that the good freedom legislation of New Scotland was updated and really works, and unfortunately this does not do that,” Raymond said.
