Copywrong

In 2003, Dear Leader's platform promised, and we quote, for the umpteenth time:

“A Progressive Conservative government will ... release to the public every government-commissioned report within 30 days of receiving it, indicate the action government will take on a report's recommendations within 60 days, and ensure prompt public access to all government reports in hard copy and on the Internet”

Dear Leader's government and party have had, at best, a spotty adherence to this solemn vow.

But now they have come up with a clever new way of breaking it. Pity the poor sod who made Access to Information request ENV/21/2015, only to receive a redacted version:

But even that is better than what "the public" — as in, "release to the public" — have, or will receive. The report, despite being "government-commissioned", has not been released on the internets, neither proactively, nor in response to the ATI request. The publicly-posted version of the request notes:

Potential copyright materialIf you wish to obtain a copy please contact the ATIPP Office at (709) 729-7072 or atippoffice@gov.nl.ca.

Pro tip to the legal geniuses in DannyGov DunderGov DavisGov: put a standard clause in all your contracts for commissioned reports, that either assign or license the copyright in that commissioned report to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is hardly the only such case. There have been at least 53 such "proactively released" ATI request packages in which some or all of the substantive part of the return have been withheld from public release on the same flimsy ermagerd cerpyrert grounds. Many of them are, naturally, the same type of "government-commissioned report" that Dear Leader promised, a dozen years ago, would be routinely released within 30 days of their receipt.

And why did Dear Leader make that promise?

Because His research staff were having trouble getting access to government-commissioned reports.