Yukon proposes restricting access to committee reports
Changes would make some documents inaccessible to public for 5 years
CBC News
Posted: Nov 6, 2012 2:32 PM CST
Last Updated: Nov 6, 2012 3:27 PM CST
The Yukon government is proposing changes to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act that would take away access to briefing documents, reports and recommendations. (Canadian Press)
The Yukon government is proposing changes to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act that would take away access to briefing documents, reports and recommendations.
The amendments would make reports and recommendations from committees that report to cabinet inaccessible for five years.
Opposition critic Jan Stick said it's an odd move for a government that campaigned on being open and accountable, and there's been no public consultation.
"It's taking information that should be accessible, from a government that said it would be accountable and open, and it's putting that information away, inaccessible to the public," she said.
"I don't know why they would do it. I don't know what the secret is, what they don't want us to know about."
The Yukon government said the rule changes are updates to bring the territory into line with other Canadian jurisdictions.
Judy Pelchat, the Yukon manager in charge of access to information, said the government has been working on the changes for the past four months.
"I don't know really how much it's going to impact the amount of information that's likely to be released,” she said.
“For us it's largely an operational issue because it is sometimes really difficult to assess what constitutes policy advice, what constitutes a cabinet confidence, and make decisions that are fair about the release of those records."
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