[Scape]

Delays leave access to information rights 'totally obliterated'

NP:Ottawa's cone of silence(audio)

Quote:

The federal government releases information about itself very reluctantly and incredibly slowly — that's the basic, unsurprising message from Canada's Information Commissioner this week. It's not a new story, but it's symptomatic of a much larger problem — for example, even as elected officials in Nova Scotia and the United Kingdom face criminal charges over misspent public money, not even the Auditor-General has access to our MPs' itemized expenses. Duff Conacher, coordinator of Democracy Watch, joins host Chris Selley to discuss the problem, and what can be done about it.

CBC At Issue:Getting Answers from the Government


There is no political system without some form of corruption in it and if it is not safeguarded against from become too out of hand it has the potential to topple the system itself. Beyond to tawdry cocaine and hookers allegations that are grabbing the headlines currently there are serious threats to how the system of government in Canada works. Right now the system in place to scour for corruption has no teeth and ALL the parties are circling the wagons to make sure that stays that way.

Is the Access to information act a pointless ritual or are there serious repercussions to the government in power beyond that of being defeated in the next election?

[PublicAnimalNo9]

This can be puncuated by the fact that Chretien made the Ethics Minister post a complete joke by decreeing that the Ethics Minister is to report to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister ONLY!
And before ANYBODY starts, this wasn't a partisan comment, merely an observation of part of what all is wrong with our system.

[Scape]

http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/

Quote:

Mulroney-era Cabinet Minister Sinclair Stevens offers Guergis some advice. Reporter James Fitz-Morris looks into the purpose of the Ethics Commissioner. Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault brings us up to date on the state of access to information in Canada.

[Scape]

At the 14 min mark they speak at length about the accountability act and the predecessor.