Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 10, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a7 Winnipeg repress. Com Manitoba Winnipeg free press saturday january 10, 2009 a 7 w Winnipeg and Brandon charge big Bucks for Public documents that other Canadian cities provide for free according to a new National audit on Access to information released Friday. Winnipeg scored a mediocre c in the audit largely because it levied fees before answering two of the five questions posed by researchers. In one Case Winnipeg police demanded nearly $ 4,700 for copies of reports filed by police officers who used their tasers even though other police departments in Calgary and Fredericton released that information for free. Brandon fared even worse scoring a a. That City charged fees Worth hundreds of dollars for most of the requests. Just getting a list of mayor Dave burgesses out of province trips costs $ 780. The scores Are part of a National audit done annually by the Canadian newspaper association to gauge How stingy governments Are with information or How slow they Are to release it. The Winnipeg free press is a member of the Cna. The audit found that 40 per cent of the time governments failed to release information in the 30 Day period set out by Law. It also found that fees vary wildly throughout the country. What one government releases in full and for free another will keep secret or charge hundreds of dollars to compile and photocopy. That makes it difficult for average citizens to get Access to information that ought to be Public. What could possibly affect the rights of citizens More than How police use a potentially deadly weapon asked University of Kings College journalism prof. Fred Vallance Jones who wrote the report for the Cna. Thatus a matter of Basic Public accountability. To Levy a fee of nearly $ 5,000 As the Price of admission effectively bars Access to All but the wealthiest requester. Marc Lemoine Winnipeg Gas Deputy clerk said the City levies the fees for staff time and copying set out in provincial Access legislation and works with the Public to whittle Down big requests so people get the information they Are seeking without spending a lot of Money. Fees can be appealed to the Manitoba ombudsman. Lemoine said the City got 183 requests in 2007 and released information in All but 28 requests. The National audit also found that governments were stuck in the last Century and mired in paper. Many refused to release information in electronic format via email or cd even though the information existed in such a format. Manitoba which has traditionally fared Well in the National audit scored a a the second Best province in the Survey. But it did deny Access to ministerial briefing notes on Carbon taxes As Many other provinces did. Reports prepared for ministers have always been kept secret in Manitoba though provinces such As Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island appear More willing to release what Manitoba terms advice to government. Colin Craig Manitoba director of the Canadian taxpayers federation said he tends to see big fees charged More often by the provincial government than by the City. The ctr makes dozens of requests a year and a recent one for information about Holiday bonuses paid to staff at family services and housing came Back with a $ 4,500 Price tag. Maryagnes. Welch free press. My. Ca Access audits information does not come cheap City province Levy charges for documents the Good Saskatoon w. On the top score of any City with an a. Among other things that City emailed researchers a list of priority Street repairs within a week of the request. The Saskatchewan government also got an a making it a Leader in openness. Thatus especially noteworthy since the province was among the worst four years ago. Manitoba answered requests within. T he 30 Day deadline 87 per cent of the time making it a Leader on speedy response. The bad. Windsor ont., charged $ 103,000 to provide a spreadsheet of its payable All the payments it made for goods and services during a specific time. Many other cities such As Regina and st. Johns n. L., simply emailed the information to researchers. The ugly the Canadian broadcasting Corpora. T Ion was the worst Federal Agency or department. It imposed a six month Extension on top of the Normal 30 Days to disclose the salary ranges of its top staffers. Most other Federal agencies and departments released the information within a month. A request for the cd cos policy on dealing with the Media got no reply at All. New Brunswick is cities were discs. T Rousky bad. Municipalities there Arentt subject to the Access to information act so they consistently ignored requests or failed to provide information. That province is reviewing its Access legislation. Staff at Thunder Bay ont., City Hall need to Check the Mailbox. Four of the five requests to the municipality were never even acknowledged. How audit was done stating in late August students and professors from the journalism school at the University of Kings College in Halifax blanketed the country with 219 requests. A Host of Federal departments and Crown corporations were asked the same five questions including requests for the salary ranges of senior staff and information about the Fleet vehicles provided to ministers. Cities and municipal police forces were asked five questions including details of the mayors out of province trips and All reports on Taser use. Provinces got five requests for things such As briefing notes prepared for the finance minister and any internal audits done on physician medicare payments. The researchers recorded How Long it took to get a reply who asked for a time Extension who charged a fee and who released the information in part or in full. Being in the know by Mary Agnes Welch Are they fixing your Street a list of 2009 proposed Street repair projects will go before the Cit yes infrastructure renewal and Public works committee tuesday. The proposed budget for local Street repairs is $ 15 million. Some of the Money would come from the province. If City Council approves less Money than the proposed sum fewer streets than those listed would be repaired. If there is a surplus after projects Are advertised new projects would be added. The City will either conduct a major reconstruction on a Given Street or repair Only distressed areas replace joints in the Concrete and pour an Asphalt layer Over portions of the Street. The City also indicated which Back lanes were slated for reconstruction at a Cost of $ 2.6 million. See wow. Winnipeg repress. Com for the list. Staff Lowdown on Street repairs a _ 07_ Jan 10 09. Ind a7 1 / 9/ 09 7 44 29 pm ;