Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, June 17, 2011

Access to Information Act Failure: Watchdog Suzanne Legault Finds Big Problems With Delays, Denials

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA - Canada's information watchdog is renewing her call for modernization of the law that's supposed to give people access to federal files.

In her annual report, Suzanne Legault says the 28-year-old Access to Information Act is out of touch with current practices and expectations.

Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada, plans to analyze the legislation's shortcomings to provide parliamentarians with a review of what needs fixing.

Among the innovations she'd like to see is a duty to document information so there is an official record of important decisions made on behalf of Canadians.

The access law gives those who pay $5 the right to request information held by government departments and agencies.

Requests are to be answered within 30 days, but Legault's report says just over half are completed within that time limit.

Changes to the act could speed up processing of requests and help ensure more information is released, she says.

The law allows agencies to withhold passages or entire pages that fall under exemptions related to national security, legal privilege, advice from officials and many other areas.

Full Article
Source: Huffington 

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