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ecords in relation to such a ‘proposal’ exist.”This can’t be allowed to continue. If it does, not only will accountability suffer,but the often crucial historical record of decision making will be irrevocablydamaged. Major policy decisions should not have to be re-created byinterviewing retired deputy ministers at the Old Bureaucrats Home in the fainthope they remember why government acted the way it did.A positive duty to create and maintain records must be incorporated into theAct – a duty to record decision making, and minimum requirements for recordkeeping in critical areas.Proactive release of recordsThere should be a legal requirement to proactively post certain governmentrecords and data. The Information Commissioner has already stated thatcontracts and audits should be posted as a matter of course – yet that stillhasn’t happened. The 2004 Special Committee recommended that publicbodies be required to routinely release, pro-actively, regularly and withoutrequest, categories of records set out in “publication schemes” approved by theCommissioner. The UK has this model, and BC should adopt it.Open DataNow that government’s open data and open government initiatives areunderway, we should expect that certain types of information will be routinelyposted. The law should require that key data is truly open, available regularlyand posted in a timely way, without charge. Real-time environmentalmonitoring data – for example, emissions data from pulp mills and otherindustrial facilities – should be posted on the internet. The law should requirethis data to be posted in machine-readable format so that public groups canreadily analyze the data and publish the results.Public Interest DisclosureThen there is the battered section 25 public interest override, which issupposed to require the immediate release of information, without request,when release is in the public interest. The provision was intended to keep thepublic promptly informed of environmental and health risks and to promotegovernment and polluter accountability. Unfortunately, information is almostnever released under this section – despite a string of high-profile cases whereUnsurprisingly, governments, especially the upperlevels of government, have been moving to anincreasingly oral culture. Senior bureaucrats seem tohate writing things down, especially anything thatmight result in controversy.152 Maintaining SuperNatural BC: Selected Law Reform Proposals
public bodies sat on information involving risks to the environment and publichealthSection 25 must be clarified and the threshold for determining when the publicinterest requires disclosure must be lowered. Similar provisions work wellelsewhere and the time has come to bolster this important section.Delays and feesThere are other problems with the Act, two of which deserve particularmention.There is a major issue with the number of delays that frustrate timely accessto information – with no negative consequences for public bodies. It takes toolong for public bodies to respond to requests for information on environmentalmatters, and those bodies are able to get too many extensions. Reformsshould include speedier response timelines for environment-related material– consistent with the public interest over-ride concept of public disclosurewithout delay. Penalties should apply to public bodies that illegally delaydisclosure.Excessive fee requests (some have been in the tens of thousands of dollars)and refusals to waive fees are also a widespread problem. The law should bechanged to ensure that information requests on environmental protectionissues are not stymied by high fees. Non-profit groups should pay at a lowerrate and be eligible for public interest fee waivers on more progressive criteriathan now exist.The provincial government has yet to fully respond to the reports of the 2004or 2010 Special Committees of the Legislature that reviewed the Freedom ofInformation and Protection of Privacy Act. Meaningful action is overdue.Vincent Gogolek is Executive Director with the BC Freedom of Information andPrivacy Association.Murray Rankin, Queens Counsel, is a Victoria lawyer and former Co-Chair ofthe Environmental Law Centre Society. He was elected Member of Parliamentfor Victoria in November 2012.For more information, see:Request for an Investigation into Disregard of Section 25 of FIPPA byGovernment Bodies. Environmental Law Centre. (2012) http://www.elc.uvic.ca/press/2012-HealthSafetyDisclosure.htmlReport: Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information andProtection of Privacy Act (2010) http://www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/39thparl/session-2/foi/reports/PDF/Rpt-FOI-39-2-Rpt-2010-MAY-31.pdfMaintaining SuperNatural BC: Selected Law Reform Proposals 153
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2Maintaining SuperNatural BC: Selec
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MAINTAINING SUPERNATURAL BC FOR OUR
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ContentsA. Planning and Environment
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Note that many of the articles refl
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A. Planning and EnvironmentalAssess
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• Destroy an important cultural a
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For more information, see:Environme
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will result from the interaction of
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3. Land Use Planning for Nature,Cli
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The cumulative effects of human act
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Implement and sustain monitoring pr
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B. Regulating IndustriesMaintaining
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the vast majority of the province,
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capability, fisheries sensitive wat
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∘∘∘∘Nations’ land claims,
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Limiting Mining Minister’s Discre
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• Since 1998, Ministry of Environ
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7. OIL AND GAS: Reforming Oil andGa
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drilled as close as 100 metres to a
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Oil and gas companies can drill on
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8. OIL AND GAS: It’s Time to Regu
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found in one of BC’s main fields,
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files/publications/Oil%20and%20Gas%
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- from strengthening corporate timb
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New mechanisms for local self-deter
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C. Protecting Wildlife & WaterMaint
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wintering ground or stopover. Unlik
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On The Edge: British Columbia’s U
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Given that all water systems (both
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water as a public resource that the
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12. Protecting Fish in British Colu
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This gutting of fish protection law
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13. Privatizing Salmon Protection:T
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uilt on roughly one-third of the pr
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This policy lurch makes it even mor
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Planning must involve robust public
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has led to such an increase in cost
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For more information, see:Reforming
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fail to co-ordinate regulatory effo
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• Powers to enter into agreements
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D. The Urban EnvironmentMaintaining
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coordinating land use, transportati
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18. Protecting Natural Areas in our
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stewardship isn’t just a matter o
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of less than 20 cents on the dollar
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of-way. The resulting greenways net
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20. Reinventing RainwaterManagement
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LID effort in North America - a com
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E. PollutionMaintaining SuperNatura
Page 101 and 102: pumped oil into a Saanich basement
Page 103 and 104: 22. Reforming Contaminated SitesLaw
Page 105 and 106: of Compliance (COC) approvals. The
Page 107 and 108: F. Climate Change andEnergyMaintain
Page 109 and 110: Meanwhile, Environment Canada’s s
Page 111 and 112: 24. In Defence of the Carbon TaxBy
Page 113 and 114: over. BC’s carbon tax is still no
Page 115 and 116: generations of BC ratepayers and ta
Page 117 and 118: William Andrews is a BC lawyer who
Page 119 and 120: happen when people heat their homes
Page 121 and 122: G. Ensuring Justice forNatureMainta
Page 123 and 124: • In 2003, the public’s right t
Page 125 and 126: Regulation Improvement Coalition an
Page 127: to provide the courts with the best
Page 130 and 131: perhaps the people can. By putting
Page 132 and 133: Chris Tollefson (D. Gilliland and J
Page 134 and 135: British Columbians must have the ri
Page 136 and 137: for both present and future generat
Page 138 and 139: that SLAPPs have a range of negativ
Page 140 and 141: Anti-SLAPP Advisory Panel: Report t
Page 142 and 143: An Environment Commissioner would p
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Page 146 and 147: 33. Reliance on QualifiedProfession
Page 148 and 149: Does this new approach have an adeq
Page 150 and 151: 34. Reforming Freedom ofInformation
Page 154 and 155: Information and Privacy Commissione
Page 156 and 157: Gord McAdams was a “whistleblower
Page 158 and 159: could result. The legislation shoul
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