The sixty-fifth assembly of the provincial government started with a storm last month. On Feb. 18, Premier Tim Houston introduced Bill 1, titled “An Act Respecting Government Organization and Administration” during the first session at Province House.
As introduced Bill 1 contained significant changes to the role of the Auditor General (AG), notably allowing the AG to be fired without cause, requiring the AG to provide a draft of any reports to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, and requiring the AG to submit reports confidentially to the House if requested to do so by the relevant member of the Executive Council.
The bill also contained changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPOP) to allow the head of the public body to disregard “frivolous or vexatious” requests.
On Feb. 20, Auditor General Kim Adair spoke at a news conference about the concerns that her office had with Bill 1. She stated that “these changes could mean any report the Government doesn’t like wouldn’t be made public.” and “the numerous veto powers could result in fewer public reports.” She asked that the amendments impacting her office be withdrawn.
On Feb. 24, Premier Houston released a statement that he had asked the legislature to withdraw the AG related amendments of Bill 1 and that “Sometimes things become something that they weren’t intended to be, and I believe this is the case with the Auditor General-related amendments.”
The Auditor General responded that she appreciates the amendments being withdrawn, was grateful for the opportunity to discuss these changes with Premier Houston, and that “the groundswell of support for the work of the office has been overwhelming and appreciated since the Bill was first tabled a week ago.”
Information and Privacy Commissioner Tricia Ralph has submitted a statement to the legislature’s law amendments committee asking that the FOIPOP amendments in Bill 1 be withdrawn.
Ralph stated that “there is a risk of limiting access and privacy rights of Nova Scotians and diminishing government accountability.” with the amendments in Bill 1 and asks that they be withdrawn to allow for meaningful consultation, that “there is a way for a compromise to be made such that there are provisions that enable an efficient and effective way to address requests that amount to an abuse of process or are too broad, that do not unduly restrict access to information rights.”
In the March 4th debate on Bill 1, Premier Houston said “We know there’ll be changes to the Auditor General’s portion. We know there’ll be changes to the FOIPOP portions of that.” He followed with a motion to adjourn debate on Bill 1, which was passed. And now the public waits to see what, precisely, those changes will be.
Thanks for the extensive and detailed account of recent MODL Council discussions.
I am disturbed by the retrograde comments of the councilor for the Riverport area, for whom I voted in the last municipal election. I shan’t make that mistake again.