STAMER – Fight against FOI bill is about govt accountability, transparency

By WARD STAMER
MLA, Kamloops-North Thompson

WEDNESDAY our Interim leader for the Conservative Party of BC, stated:

“When government makes it harder for people to access public records, it makes it harder for people to hold government accountable. Bill 9 is not about improving transparency, it is about giving the NDP government more tools to delay, deny, and discourage scrutiny. British Columbians deserve a government that opens the books, not one that writes new rules to keep them closed,” said Halford.

For hour after hour our Conservative Caucus attempted to have the provincial government implement a six-month delay on Bill 9 (the Freedom of Information Amendment Act, 2026).

As I stated in the BC Legislature that night:

“It wasn’t about obstruction for the sake of obstruction, it’s not about avoiding debate, and it’s also not about preventing reform. It’s about accountability, and it’s about transparency. It’s about ensuring that when this Legislature changes the rules surrounding access to information, public oversight and government accountability, we actually understand the consequences before we proceed.”

I continued, “Once trust in public institutions is lost, it is incredibly difficult to rebuild. British Columbians are already asking serious questions about transparency in our government. (The public is) asking, Why freedom-of-information requests are taking so long.”

The people of British Columbia have every right to ask that!

The government would lead us to believe that 84 percent of the time, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are being met. But that’s untrue. Instead, all we seem to get are longer and longer timelines, and changes in the wording in the law.

We’ve gone from “withholding delay” to “withholding reasonable delay.”

Why are we changing it to reasonable? If, statutorily, we’ve already got it in the law that information is supposed to be provided in 30 days, why are we changing it from “without delay” to “without reasonable delay”?

To me, that sounds either redundant, or an opportunity to expand that timeline.

I asked the government specifically, “Why are we using those words, and why are we allowing public servants to either interpret or misinterpret those words? Words like ‘frivolous’, as an example.”

Why has the government added that type of nondescript language? The answer, in my opinion, is simple … because it can be interpreted in many different ways.

Years ago, everything was done on paper. Now everything’s on computer and yet the government says they’re overwhelmed, understaffed and that that’s why they’re having challenges with meeting those timelines.

Nobody supported Bill 9. In fact, a citizen’s coalition had a 10,000-name petition opposing it. I haven’t had one single person say to me, “Hey, we really need this legislation.”

Wednesday night in the legislature I stated, “Government members may not like hearing this, but these concerns are real. Again, we’re hearing that from journalists. We’re hearing it from local governments. We’re hearing it from businesses. We’re hearing it from advocacy organizations. Best, we’re hearing it from ordinary citizens that are just trying to access records.”

That is why we put forth an amendment to allow us more time for broader consultation on Bill 9.

Here’s a question …

If it was such a big hurry to get this this bill through, how come the government hadn’t already acted on the recommendations made by the all-party committee in 2022? After all, they been in government for nine years.

Instead, what we’ve seen since the committee was struck are longer timelines, more redactions, and more things happening behind closed doors.

That is exactly why we need freedom-of-information protection.

We asked for a six-month delay, however, the government wasn’t going to permit that to happen.

What were they afraid of that would come out during those six months? Why the urgency to limit access to information?

Good legislation withstands scrutiny. Only weak legislation fears delay. The six-month delay we requested was not about politics. It was about protecting the public’s right to know.

Regrettably at 4 a.m. yesterday morning Premier Eby’s government, with the support of Independent MLA’s Elenore Sturko and Amelia Boultbee, passed Bill 9. Our Conservative Caucus, along with Green Party MLA’s Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote, all voted No.

As an editorial in the North Shore News stated in late March;

“Access to information is a basic form of public scrutiny and a cornerstone of democracy. And democracy isn’t efficient or streamlined. It’s messy. It’s work.”

I believe it’s important for government to be open, transparent, and fully accountable to the taxpayers of this province.

Regrettably, has chosen the exact opposite.

Ward Stamer is the BC Conservative MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson.