“We made stuff,” says Manon Massé

Photo Simon Clark/QMI Agency
The co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire, Manon Massé

Marie-Renée Grondin

Wednesday, march 21, 2018 17:48

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Wednesday, march 21, 2018 17:48

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While a draft law on tightening the Law on access to information has been adopted by stealth on Tuesday, the co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire, Manon Massé, has not failed to remind the prime minister Couillard on his promise in 2014 to form the government, the more transparent that the Québécois have had”.

“Four years ago, to the day, the prime minister’s loud and clear in his promise of transparency to get elected. During those four years, his ministers have repeatedly told us in chorus that they would file soon a revision of the Law on access to information. Groups of citizens, protection of consumers, protection of the environment, journalists, in short, we made stuff,” she lamented Wednesday.

This bill, completely passed under the radar, and adopted by all the parliamentary groups except for Québec solidaire, will be confidential for 25 years, documents of public interest prepared by officers and on which is based the Council of ministers to take decisions.

“Is it that the prime minister and the transparency may explain why he says one thing and does its opposite, when it is time to empower citizens to play their role of watchdog of democracy?”, insisted Manon Massé, in the room.

Although it was addressed to the prime minister and that she had repeatedly called on to respond to him directly, Mr. Couillard has left its minister responsible for Access to information and the Reform of democratic institutions, Kathleen Weil, react.

This last has been argued that this bill “is not a setback”. “It is simply to reinstate the current law, in order to protect the deliberations of the executive Council”.

She backed into the hallway by after all the other canadian provinces have similar provisions. But she has promised to propose a reform of the law on the protection of personal information, which dates from 1993, writ of before the public Internet!

This will be, she assured, “one of the best laws in Canada.” But a few months of an election, will it have the time to adopt? Several are skeptical.