Enacting FOIA has never been more important, Aubry says

There is a real risk that long-promised legislation to improve transparency will not be passed before the next election, Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG) Executive Director Matt Aubry said yesterday.

“Freedom of Information is exactly the template you want to avoid,” he said.

“Go back to 2012 – it’s passed right before the new administration comes in and largely sits unfocused on, or it’s revamped and passed when that administration leaves. And now it sits here and again, not fully enacted, because it becomes not the priority of the day.

“…Similarly, you have the Ombudsman and the Integrity Commission Bill, which were tabled in 2017. And we were very encouraged to see that. And then they have sat there with no movement since then.

“If they sit much longer, then you risk it happening that they are passed and then never enacted within the course of this administration. And the risk is if this administration doesn’t continue, that another administration comes in, they could easily go the course of the Freedom of Information Act.”

With the election set to happen by mid-2022 at the latest, the Minnis administration has yet to fully enact the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), pass the Ombudsman Bill and the Integrity Commission Bill or introduce campaign finance legislation.

Aubry said the full enactment of FOIA appears to be at a standstill.

“Last I heard is that the prime minister had reported that they were looking at information commissioners,” he said.

“…If I recall, about a year ago they were also looking for information commissioners.”

The Free National Movement (FNM), led by Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis, campaigned on a platform of transparency and accountability, promising wide-ranging legislation to stamp out corruption and improve public access to information.

However, nearly four years into the term, much of that has been at a standstill.

While government officials have attributed some of the delays to Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, Aubry said yesterday that the time to act is now. He said the earlier enactment of the legislation may have made the most recent crises more manageable, and noted that it’s impossible to know what other crises may lay ahead.

“In the face of the emergency order, which you could make the argument that they’re necessary because they allow the government to do what it needs to do to ensure our safety, it’s probably more important than ever that you would have checks and balances in place to allow the citizenry to access what it needs to have more accountability and more transparency,” he said.

“And so, freedom of information is crucial. Bringing that bill into full enactment at this time, it’s never been more important.”

He continued, “It would seem that this is a crucial thing to move forward…the calls for freedom of information related to aragonite and extractive industries, business dealings.”

Aubry added, “We need to focus on these movements before things get into crisis in order to benefit from them in crisis.

“…In the middle of everything that we’re doing, these items need to be prioritized because we don’t know what’s around the corner. We don’t know what the next crisis is. But we will be better served if they are in place.”

Aubry said it may already be too late in this term to hope for campaign finance legislation to make a difference in the upcoming election.

“Pending an election cycle, this is your last chance to get it in place to make this meaningful,” he said.

“And I’m not sure that there still is a window to really do it.

“…That legislation is still in process and it’s still in draft last I heard. You have a rapidly closing window to put anything out that is going to have a bearing on this next election.”

Aubry, however, said that sustainable change is reliant on an engaged citizenry.

“The citizenry needs to make this a priority, which has always been one of our contentions,” he said.

“This is going to move and even if the legislation passes, it’s only sustained if the citizenry continues to think that this is critical.”

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