Justice minister says if privacy commissioner needs more resources, she should ask | CBC News
The Nova Scotia government acknowledges that the four-year backlog in appealing freedom of information decisions is unacceptable, yet the proposed solution reveals a recurring cycle of inaction. Justice Minister Brad Johns suggests that the Privacy Commissioner simply request additional staffing resources to clear the queue. However, previous commissioners have repeatedly made this exact request, only to face rebuffs or short-term funding solutions that fail to address systemic capacity issues. This dynamic highlights a critical disconnect between political rhetoric and the operational reality required to enforce transparency rights effectively. Furthermore, despite aggressive campaign promises to grant the Privacy Commissioner independent order-making powers, the current administration has delayed legislative reform. This power is essential because, currently, the Commissioner can only issue recommendations that public bodies are not legally compelled to follow. The refusal to modernize the Act leaves citizens with limited recourse when government bodies withhold information, undermining the fundamental purpose of access-to-information legislation and eroding public trust in governmental accountability. This situation is directly relevant to open data because effective transparency infrastructure is the foundation for meaningful data openness. Without a robust, independent body empowered to enforce compliance and resolve disputes promptly, government data remains inaccessible or unreliable. Modernizing these laws to include order-making powers and adequate resources ensures that open data initiatives are not merely theoretical promises but are backed by enforceable rights, allowing citizens and researchers to hold governments accountable through actual data access rather than bureaucratic delays.
Source: cbc.caPublished on 2023-07-04