Commentary

Finance Minister Mike de Jong didn't call it the Bob Mackin amendment but...

by Charlie Smith on May 9th, 2016 at 4:35 PM
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      Premier Christy Clark likes talking about her government's jobs plan.

      But a new freedom-of-information policy announced today by Finance Minister Mike de Jong is not going to make it easier for freelance writers to make a living.

      Under the rubric of improving transparency, de Jong has announced that all access requests will be published on the "Open Information" website. This will make it quite simple for lazy journalists to cherry pick what's being sought by those who fill out the forms.

      It's going to punish one Vancouver freelancer in particular, Bob Mackin, who regularly embarrasses B.C. Liberal politicians. In fact, he makes his living in part through his diligent use of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

      Mackin has recently done some exceptional work digging into how the province's conflict of interest commissioner, Paul Fraser, recently cleared Premier Christy Clark over her $50,000 annual payment from the B.C. Liberal Party.

      If you haven't followed this saga, I encourage you to read Mackin's tweets below.

      In light of Mackin's dedication to this story, it's easy to see how some in the media might view the new approach to FOI requests as some sort of payback.

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