Mr. Accountability (VIII): Nothing but a sham

From the proceedings of the Bow-Wow Parliament on March 14, 2002:

[MR. WILLIAMS]: I think we saw that story that was in The Telegram, I think, a couple of years ago, where there was a big exposé about the inability to access information. That was one of the same articles in which it appeared that it was $10,000 to access information.

MR. E. BYRNE: They charged us, yes.

MR. WILLIAMS: Absolutely. We were charged $10,000 to try and find information on water samples.

There is all kinds of discretion in all the ministers; they can decide what is reasonable and what is not reasonable. They can stretch the time limits out for a full year. They can charge you fees that are prohibitive so that if you do not have enough money to pay the piper to get that information, then you do not get it. Then they throw out the Citizens’ Representative as being the be-all and end-all. You can appeal to the Ombudsman, to the Citizens’ Representative, and that person has no power to recommend. This piece of legislation is nothing but a sham.