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Hard to believe FOI requests didn't turn up any records

Ian Robertson, who shares this space, wrote recently about his difficulty getting information on the new bridge that is planned to replace the George Massey Tunnel.

Ian Robertson, who shares this space, wrote recently about his difficulty getting information on the new bridge that is planned to replace the George Massey Tunnel. Certainly, anyone who commutes from South Delta to north of the Fraser River will look favourably on the project, which is currently advertised to start in 2017 with a 2022 completion date.

But its approval did seem to happen quickly with none of the lengthy discussion and debate, which is endemic to our community. It is currently planned to be a 10-lane bridge on the current site of the tunnel.

Hopefully an extension of the Canada Line or light rapid transit in the future has been planned. Since the new bridge will, in all likelihood, be tolled, it seems logical that public transit to the ferry terminal and TFN malls be available.

The cost of the bridge was not included in the recent "non-TransLink" TransLink plebiscite that was defeated. Perhaps the province was not set to roll the dice on the bridge.

Robertson was interested in how the final details of the bridge were decided upon so fast. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, he requested "materials such as documents, data analysis." The response he got was that "although a thorough search was conducted, no records were located." No records? This is a rather bizarre and questionable response. Not even an artist's rendering?

There have been other cases that have been equally questionable. When eight employees were terminated by the Ministry of Health for allegedly violating the privacy provisions of the act, information was difficult to obtain with the claim the case was being investigated by the RCMP, which was untrue.

Subsequently the provincial government was sued by the terminated employees and settled out of court with a non-disclosure provision. Some are back working for the provincial government.

Freedom of information requests have been equally unsatisfactory on this file with the claim that no information is available. It is impossible to believe that eight employees were terminated without cause and there are no written records.

Perhaps code names are used such that nothing shows up when the item is searched. For instance, Massey Tunnel replacement could be "chocolate pudding" in the government files. Therefore, a search might show up nothing other than the premier's favourite dessert.

I can see why politicians and political staff might not want their e-mails made available. E-mails are addressed to a specific individual or group of people and are without context. If you thought there would be more, and unknown readers, vastly more time would be spent authoring what should be quick conversation.

So why was such a dumb policy initiated? Perhaps the whole policy should be revisited such that private conversations are private and not subject to willful misinterpretation by other politicians or journalists.

At the same time the act should be revised to protect a reasonable expectation of privacy and not get overwrought when somebody's customer list is compromised.

Tom Siba, an ex-publisher of the Optimist, saves all his e-mails.