Tourists looking for a place to stay on P.E.I. will soon be able to go online to see an establishment's inspection records.

The move comes after CBC News filed a request under the province's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, asking for records from all of the approximately 1,000 places offering tourist accommodations on the Island.

A boxful of hundreds of records was provided to the broadcaster on Monday.

Now the government has decided to open up documents to potential visitors as well.

'We have nothing to hide.'—Tourism Minister Valerie Docherty

P.E.I. Tourism Minister Valerie Docherty told CBC News that it's appropriate the documents be made public, adding that putting them online could actually be a selling point for tourism marketers.

"We have nothing to hide," she said.

However, she said her officials are still deciding how the online database will be organized and how access will be granted.

"We want to make sure it's going to be used for the right purposes," Docherty said.

Smoke detectors missing or broken in some cases

The most troubling revelation from the documents released to CBC News was the fact that smoke detectors were either missing or not working in dozens of units.

In one report, a nine-cottage operation was found to have four units without working detectors.

Otherwise, the reports show that the majority of P.E.I tourist operators are running clean, well-maintained properties, but a few need to work on cleanliness and do some repainting.

Examples from the reports:

• One inspector ordered an operator to clean bug squash marks from a wall.
• A motel owner was told to repair the rotting bottom of a bathroom door.
• The owner of an inn was told to remove the yellow spots on a bathroom door.
• One inspector found mildew around a bathroom soap dish.

Docherty says converting the paper records for online use is time-consuming, so people may have to wait a few more months to check out an establishment before booking.

The tourism industry association has said it supports the release of the inspection reports.

In recent months, similar information requests from CBC Radio in P.E.I. have led the government to publish the names of restaurants that received health warnings, release the names of stores caught selling cigarettes to minors, and make available hospital accreditation documents.