Freedom of Information changes will disproportionately affect First Nations, Indigenous leaders: UBCIC
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs says the NDP government's plans to change the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act will disproportionately affect First Nations if a new fee is introduced.
Minister of Citizen Services Lisa Beare told reporters other jurisdictions had fees between $5 and $50 and she'd be recommending in the middle of that, which led many to believe a $25 fee was to be put in place. Premier John Horgan later insisted no fee had been decided upon.
Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, UBCIC secretary-treasurer, noted First Nations experience high levels of poverty and would be disproportionately impacted.
"The fee will deter First Nations from filing FOI requests," she said in a statement.
If put in place, a $25 fee would be among the highest in Canada. As noted by several journalism professors opposed to the fee, six provinces and one territory don't even have a fee. Three provinces charge $5 as does the federal government, and another three charge $25.
According to Service Alberta, the initial fee is $25. The website reads "the applicant is required to pay an initial fee of $25 for a one-time request, or $50 for a continuing request."
Asked if she referred to other provinces having a $50 fee to deliberately mislead the public, Beare replied, "The fees across the jurisdictions are five to 50, yes that's for a subsequent application but yes that is part of the application fees across the provinces."
In B.C. applicants can also be charged for FOI requests that take a substantial amount of time to produce. Those fees can be in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.
If passed, Bill 22 which authorizes changes to the act, would also block the Information and Privacy Commissioner from waiving application fees if the requests are in the public interest.
UBCIC says while First Nations and their umbrella organizations participated in consultations, there was no discussion of imposing any new fees.
Other concerns for the organization include that the Office of the Premier is removed from the list of public bodies covered by the act - something the privacy commissioner says muddies the waters in terms of whether the office will be subject to the law. The government argues it's removing a redundant passage because it is covered like all other ministerial offices.
Another concern, that a long standing recommendation from the privacy commissioner's office isn't in the legislation -- that government require all important decisions and discussions be documented.
"If records are not created, they cannot be subject to an FOI request," added Kukpi7 Wilson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.