Cannabis and culture #nlpoli
Politics and policy are much more complicated things than they appear to many people. Change is possible, but effective change can only come if we see the world as it…
freedom from information
Plain English , Disclosure, and Bad Public Policy #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Right off the start, let’s affirm that Nalcor was created by an administration that was, from the time it took office, notorious for its efforts to flout the law in…
No help, not my department, and missing records #nlpoli
Starting a little over a hundred years ago, the Government of Newfoundland publishing a list of public servants by name, showing their job title, the department they worked for, the…
Illegal deletions okay in NL: access commissioner #nlpoli
Shortly after he took office a month or so ago, newly appointed information commissioner Donovan Molloy told CBC there had been a "substantial increase" in the number of access to…
Bill 29 didn’t go far enough: public sector unions #nlpoli
The teachers' union doesn't want the public to know the names of public servants in Newfoundland and Labrador.The news late on Thursday is that NAPE - the province's largest public…
A mess in the government access and privacy world #nlpoli
Two recent stories about the province's access to government information and privacy laws.Both of them are essentially nonsense.Short version for the new administration: cock-ups in comms and access to government…
The politics of information #nlpoli
A couple of recent post are reminders of how important it is to take a look at issues in the province from another perspective. On June 10, you will find…
Repealing Bill 29 #nlpoli
The Liberals proposed a motion during last week’s private member’s day that the government repeal Bill 29. Meanwhile, at the Telegram, legislative reporter James McLeod has been waging a one-man…
Talk is cheap. #nlpoli
It was only a matter of time before the government that says more and more about less and less figured out that its best mouthpiece was Steve Kent, right, the…
D’oh! Telegram shags up Muskrat Falls access story #nlpoli
According to a major Telegram story on Monday morning, the provincial government won’t be able to release some information about Muskrat Falls because of the provincial access to information laws.…
How do they work, exactly? #nlpoli
As laughable as it is for the Premier’s Office to insist former Premier Kathy Dunderdale received only 46 e-mails in a single week and sent none, there are some other…
How did she work, exactly? #nlpoli
How odd that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador – arguably the busiest job in the province, bar none - received only 46 e-mails in a one week period in…
Access to Information – some misunderstandings #nlpoli
A tale out of Ottawa reveals the extent to which access to information problems crop up in lots of places. CBC News asked for a copy of a memo from…
Doing it right #nlpoli
Premier Tom Marshall confirmed on Thursday that the provincial government will be doing the review of the provincial information and privacy law a year earlier than scheduled. They will also…
Dunderdale’s Bill 29 “a dramatic step backwards” for transparency in NL #nlpoli
On Monday, Premier Kathy Dunderdale blew off any questions in the House of Assembly about Bill 29 with the comment that the centre for Law and Democracy said the province…
The Beast #nlpoli
This week, people across Canada who are interested in the public right to access government information mark a thing called Right to Know Week. It’s a time to “raise awareness…
The New Secret Nation #nlpoli
On the front page of Wednesday’s Telegram was another instalment in James McLeod’s blockbuster on the provincial government’s policy of censoring public documents. This one focused on the claim by…
Censoring Public Documents… or not #nlpoli
Not only does the provincial government now censor public documents called orders in council, they can’t get their own scheme right. Public engagement minister Keith Hutchings published a letter to…
A Commitment to Secrecy #nlpoli
The justice department is the lead department enforcing the provincial access to public information law. As such, it’s a pretty serious indictment of the government’s commitment to public access when…
Tories involved in violation of privacy act #nlpoli
The temperature in the House of Assembly is not even cooled down and Tory legislator Paul Lane (Mount Pearl South) is likely to find himself in the middle of a…