Mr. Transparency Now Will Guard Secrets
Four reasons FOI Commissioner Loukidelis was wrong to jump to BC deputy Attorney General.
David Loukidelis: Changing teams?
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Commissioner sees big problems with BC freedom of information
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BC Gov't 'Spin Machine' Costs Us
How much? Seven times the budget for filling FOIs.
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BC's Liberals Deserve Prize for Climate of Secrecy
Give Campbell's global warming team a Code of Silence Award!
"Secrecy feeds distrust and dishonesty. Openness builds trust and integrity." -- Gordon Campbell, 1998
The man who has been responsible for ensuring that the provincial government fulfills Freedom of Information requests since 1999 is now deputy attorney general for the B.C. Liberal administration.
David Loukidelis will go from being the independent appointee responsible for ensuring openness and transparency in a government that flagrantly violates FOI rules to being one of the top bureaucrats assigned to keeping documents secret from the media and the public.
And that is seriously wrong in at least four ways.
Reason 1: Reversing roles
Loukidelis has an admirable record as information and privacy commissioner, including fighting B.C. Liberal government funding cuts that have reduced citizen and media access to information that should be readily available.
But the government should not have offered him the deputy attorney general’s position, nor should he have taken it.
Reason 2: Railgate optics
What's more, Loukidelis takes over as the senior administrator responsible for dealing with FOI and other requests for government documents in the B.C. Legislature Raid case -- a disquieting prospect given that he has been ultimately responsible for FOI requests previously made by defence lawyers for David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi -- who face serious corruption charges.
Who recruited Loukidelis? The former deputy attorney general Allan Seckel, who is now Campbell's own deputy minister.
Reason 3: FOI office shutdown
And the government neglected -- through either sheer stupidity or malicious intent -- to appoint an acting commissioner until Monday afternoon, forcing the entire FOI office to bring all its activities to a halt until then.
You decide which -- because commission executive direct Mary Carlson was forced to write an urgent letter to B.C. Speaker Bill Barisoff Friday after an earlier letter to Premier Gordon Campbell went unanswered.
Only when media attention was focused on the lack of an acting commissioner did the government belatedly appoint B.C.'s conflict of interest commissioner Paul Fraser to temporarily fill in.
Reason 4: A dangerously slippery precedent
But here's what's most important of all. If the FOI commissioner can suddenly take a job in the B.C. government without any restriction, how can the public trust the next person who gets that job won't do the same thing?
And that means the next FOI commissioner may well be a lot more cooperative with the government than their position demands -- in order to seek another and potentially more lucrative job in government afterwards.
Loukidelis is an honourable public servant, and I believe he will continue to act in that manner in his new position.
But let's be clear. He reports directly to both attorney general Mike de Jong and Campbell; he is an Order In Council appointee and can be dismissed without cause at any time.
Anyone who serves as the independent FOI commissioner should be disqualified from subsequently serving in a government position to ensure that the integrity of the office is unquestionable.
As someone who has filed dozens of FOI requests, including several appeals to the commissioner when FOI documents were withheld unfairly and unnecessarily to prevent government embarrassment, I know this government is the most secretive in the country.
Now Loukidelis, the man who often bravely attempted to force Campbell to live up to his own promise that the B.C. government would be the most "open and transparent" in Canada, is part of that same administration that seriously weakened FOI legislation while slashing the commissioner's budget to further hurt access. And that is beyond regrettable. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
BC Mary
25-01-2010
Wanted: 3,300 hungry journalists looking for copy
On my blog today, there's a story about an incident which reveals how news is filtered in British Columbia.
It illustrates in a few terse lines, how NEWS is product like widgets and made to be sold, not information meant to be shared.
That little story finally eliminated my last shred of doubt about how these terrible things happen where people betray themselves, and in doing so, betray all of us, their country, their future, and hope itself.
Some awful quid pro quo is offered, to be sure. Something needed or wanted, perhaps desperately needed or wanted; and so the contract is sealed.
How is it, then, that some people don't give up ... don't bend?
Blessed are the journalists who still remember that honest news presented fairly is the essential arm of a democratic government.
3,300 international media are coming for the Olympics. I hope they are hungry journalists working (here) outside the control of any Mr Big and that they document the stresses and fractures of British Columbia right now.
I hope they will help to uncover the story of BC Rail which, what a surprise, will have its day in court but, by some strange magic, not until ... drum roll please ... AFTER THE OLYMPICS.
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/
WHAT
25-01-2010
Moving the pawns around
Obviously...slowing up the process so a nasty piece of information doesn't come out till after the Olympics...among the answer to 'Who ordered the destruction of government emails?"
The public doesn't forget juicy gossip, we have been conditioned to look for it...Back fire!
Grumpy
25-01-2010
Gordo is in trouble..............
.........and all the King's men and all the king's horses can't save him. So scuttle the FOI office, by giving the head chap another job in the bureaucracy.
Love to know what the editor edited out as G. West is not one to run off the mouth.
What we see is the most corrupt, the most evil government in BC's history, beginning to implode under the sheer weight of malfeasance. The publics right for the truth is being impeded by the government.
In short, the BC Liberal government has become an "enemy of the state."
off-the-radar
26-01-2010
great article
I really agree with Bill Tieleman's analysis that Mr.Loukidelis leaving an independent office for the Deputy AG position is a profound conflict of interest.
He will go from the watchdog side of major sensitive issues (Basi-Virk; sharing information on citizens' etc) to the government's side (and with his watch dog knowledge and experience).
Mr. Loukidelis will be a very competent AG and he has a very good reputation. However he has crossed over into a very partisan political world and he will be playing a key role in Campbell's political fights.
It was an inappropriate appointment and should not be allowed.
Skywalker
26-01-2010
Something rotten in all this.
What is it about how he did his job that makes Gordon think the man deserves to work on the inside now? I rather think Gordo has an ulterior motive. Whether it is to drop Loukidelis when it is convenient is hard to say. If a policeman announced they were going in to work for the gangsters, would it not call into question all his past actions.
freebear
26-01-2010
A whirlwind of manipulation!
As with lies, when there are so many political machinations going on someone is bound to trip up; though it may be after the olympic spending orgy!
ChrisB
26-01-2010
An Opportunity to Get Some Answers
I'm very pleased to see that there's continued interest in what is happening at the OIPC and what Loukidelis's appointment as Deputy A.G. means.
There's a rare opportunity on February 2 in Vancouver to dig for some answers. The Legislative committee reviewing the FOI/Privacy Act (FOIPPA) is holding a public meeting at the Hotel Vancouver (the Waddington Room) from 10:00 to 17:00. I am scheduled to speak to the committee at 11:45.
On the 19th, the day Loukidelis tendered his resignation, the OIPC sent me a letter confirming that there would be no "oral" hearing of my long-outstanding FOI case, and stating that a decision (aka "order") is "forthcoming".
The respondent to my case is the Ministry of A.G., and this is a case without precedent that I will certainly take to judicial review if necessary.
I will bring my files with me to the meeting on February 2 and will share everything about my case with anyone who is interested (and not afraid of looking at the truth).
dorothy
26-01-2010
You got to be kidding!
"Anyone who serves as the independent FOI commissioner should be disqualified from subsequently serving in a government position to ensure that the integrity of the office is unquestionable."
Where did you pick up the notion that giving a tinker's dam for the integrity of anything is in Vogue??
Integrity is a dinosaur. It has to be. Long dead. Not only dead. Fossilized. Otherwise, why do these people get elected again and again?
This is a land where we don't want rules that define things too closely, for that would leave little 'wiggle room'. And wiggle room is our favorite commodity. Think of all those little, and maybe not so little, deals you can make everywhere with everyone, if things are open to interpretation. It's just a question of doing what you want, keeping a straight face (also known as 'brazening it out'), and should you really have your back against the wall, fashion some smart semantics. That'll fix everything. Just redefine, call it something else, and, again, brazen it out. There is an end to this? I'll believe that when I see it. I believe I said to a local rep for a politcal party at a local meeting, that I was there, because I felt politically homeless and was looking around, and she quesried commiseratively, whether I had 'been one of David Orchard's followers'!! Talk about disconnect.
crankypants
26-01-2010
Deja Vu
It looks as if Campbell and Co. are taking a page out of Harper's book. The only difference is that he coerced his pain in the butt to join the choir rather than just face the guillotine.
Methinks that we will have a long three-plus years ahead of us before we get to dump this mob of manipulators.
RickW
27-01-2010
dorothy
The grist of lawyers. If I am not mistaken, Canada has the 'distinction' of having more lawyers per capita than any other country. If so, it would confirm that the breeding conditions for this particular 'virus' are fertile indeed!
Tieleman
27-01-2010
Bill Tieleman - what needs to be done
Thanks all for being interested in what I think is a very important part of our democratic system - the right of all citizens to access government information without undue restrictions.
In answer, somewhat, to Dorothy's cynical posting, I believe that we should all be pushing the BC NDP to move a motion in the Legislature that would eliminate anyone else doing in the future what David Loukidelis just did - jump from FOI Commissioner to a senior government position.
Let the BC Liberals explain why they won't support it - add another log onto the fire.
I would hope that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Association - FIPA - would take on this cause as well.
cfvua
27-01-2010
Great piece
The stench of this re-deployment must make the halls of places in Victoria almost unbearable. This is just one more illustration of the callous dis-regard for public scrutiny that the Campbell and his band of fools have. I put in a request regarding who got how much in the way of oil and gas subsidies, sorry "royalty credits" and for what projects over a year ago and have yet to see anything in the way of a response. Information that should be easy to get, but obviously is considered too sensitive for public consumption. The information is hidden supposedly due to "competitive issues" between recipients.???????
If a company gets a handout, shouldn't the people who give it get to know about it? I realize the embarrassment that might be generated in having people know that taxpayers are funding highly profitable natural gas producers, with essentially no benefits flowing back to the province, but doesn't our right to know trump any of that?
ChrisB
27-01-2010
What We Should Now Expect
With the FOI "order" that I am expecting (finally) from the OIPC, I have a very specific and personal interest in Mr. Loukidelis's move from Commissioner to Deputy A.G. Given what I've been told recently (verbally and in writing) I should anticipate seeing that order very soon. I see no possibility of any outcome other than one that denies me the access I've sought or grants it to me because I've correctly argued that the A.G.'s submission rests on a single bald lie.
One reason I'm optimistic about this is that on Jan. 6 I was finally told that the adjudicator is Michael McEvoy, and the following day he issued the first two "orders" of 2010, which are identical except for the identity of the respondent. The A.G. is the respondent in F10-02, which could be a template for what I am seeking. These first two orders therefore provide me with additional supporting material should I need to take this matter to judicial review.
If the OIPC finds in my favour this will be a serious issue for the Ministry of A.G., quite apart from what I hope to find in the documents I've been seeking. So how this now unfolds may be an indication, to me at least, of what we might reasonably expect from David Loukidelis as Deputy A.G.
I'm not arguing that he should not have immediately rejected the offer. However, I'm still open to the possibility that he took the offer in good faith, believing that he can serve the public interest in that role.
I expect it won't take very long for him to demonstrate whether he did accept that offer in good faith or not. What we need to do is keep the spotlight on the Ministry of A.G. for at least the remainder of this year.
RickW
27-01-2010
Tieleman: "I believe that we should all be pushing the BC NDP.."
.....to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING! We have 3+ years of crap like this to go through, until next election. Wait that long and there won't be much of a province left to salvage.
zalm
27-01-2010
I've got another idea
Get Gordo to make Leonard Krog the FOI commissioner. Leonard gets to grow a spine, Gordo gets rid of a pain in the ass from the legislature, and we get someone who, if no more effective than Loukidelis, at least is no worse.
Well, I can dream, can't I?.....