16
submitted 15 hours ago by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/canada@lemmy.ca

The B.C. government is trying to weaken access to information with a bill that’s now before the legislature, say opposition parties and advocates.

Citizens’ Services Minister Diana Gibson says the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2026, makes minor changes that will make the system work better.

But MLAs with both the Conservative Party of BC and the BC Greens say the bill is part of a long-term erosion of access rights and will make it even harder for people trying to get information from the government.

B.C. Conservative MLA for Langley-Willowbrook Jody Toor said during debate that at first glance the bill seems to make small administrative amendments.

top 1 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] LimpRimble@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 hours ago

The government is focusing on transparency and much has changed in the more than 30 years since the legislation was created, Gibson said. “Anybody who has email right now knows how much volume there is of information. Email, texts, different services, things like WhatsApp and Signal, there’s so much information.”

The average response has grown to 500 pages, and they often include sensitive information about third parties that needs to be reviewed before release, she said.

this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
16 points (100.0% liked)

Canada

11702 readers
460 users here now

What's going on Canada?



Related Communities


🍁 Meta


🗺️ Provinces / Territories


🏙️ Cities / Local Communities

Sorted alphabetically by city name.


🏒 SportsHockey

Football (NFL): incomplete

Football (CFL): incomplete

Baseball

Basketball

Soccer


💻 Schools / Universities

Sorted by province, then by total full-time enrolment.


💵 Finance, Shopping, Sales


🗣️ Politics


🍁 Social / Culture


Rules

  1. Keep the original title when submitting an article. You can put your own commentary in the body of the post or in the comment section.

Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca also apply here. See the sidebar on the homepage: lemmy.ca


founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS