Free-Speech Report Targets the ‘Culture of Secrecy’ of Harper Government

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A recently released new report by a free-speech advocacy group illustrated the results of a test project allowing requests for making information available online to be one of the few positive developments that have lifted the federal government’s overall transparency performance to a barely passing grade. Meanwhile, the report by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression placed blame on the Conservative government for its “culture of secrecy” as exemplified in the case of muzzling federal scientists.

Results of a ‘Review of Free Expression Canada’ released ahead of Friday’s World Press Freedom Day stated that “there are good reasons to go even lower than last year’s failing F.” It added “but rather than repeating this dismal year, we hope the federal government will heed the many voices calling for change.” The previous reports of the group from 2012-2013 gave the federal government a C-minus overall, while allotting a D-minus for its access to information law. Furthermore, the report shows that Canada’s “archaic” law governing access to information was ranked at 55th out of the total 93 countries that have such laws. It also notes statistics on delays and withholding of information show an increasing opacity when it comes to government.

In a press statement, the president of CJFE, Arnold Amber, mentioned that “we have been concerned for some time about the growing stranglehold on information available to Canadians,” He added that “it is systemic. Its roots burrow across government departments and across Canada. It is a sickness debilitating our democracy.”