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Its interesting how the Liberals have gone from promising transparency in 2015 to deciding in 2020 that Canadians no longer care about transparency.

Its also a convenient excuse for a government that has failed to live up to that initial promise, as though somehow its Canadians who are to blame.

The American political journalist Michael Kinsley once described a gaffe as an instance when a politician tells the truth some obvious truth he (or she) isnt supposed to say. That would be an apt description of the dismissive remarks this past week from Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu concerning Canadians access to information rights.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported on Wednesday that less than half of federal agencies and departments were fully processing freedom of information requests and that the vast majority of departments had opted against deeming those requests a critical service.

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We already knew the system was not functioning as it should. In June, Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard warned that access to information requests were backlogged due to a lack of resources and that the Trudeau government was failing to provide those necessary resources.

Yet when she was asked about this Thursday in the House of Commons, Hajdus response was to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Not once has a Canadian asked me to put more resources into freedom-of-information officers, she declared.

If Canadians dont care about this issue, then why did the Liberals make it a priority in their 2015 campaign? If the Liberals feel that this is less of a priority because of the pandemic, then that tells us a lot about how they actually feel about access to information.

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As Maynard herself put it back in June, Openness and transparency in government has never been more important than it is during the pandemic. Access delayed is access denied.

In fact, Maynard took to Twitter on Friday to remind Canadians about these very points and to respond directly to the health minister. Maynard said she was very disappointed in Hajdus comments and noted that she has sounded the alarm on the need for strong leadership in this area and the need for an increase in available resources.

Ironically, this all comes just a few weeks after Canada marked Right to Know Week, which is meant to highlight an individuals right to access government information, while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance.

Clearly, we have work to do in this country.

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By Friday, the minister was furiously backpedalling on her initial remarks. Patty Hajdu herself took to Twitter to concede that, yes, openness and transparency are vital to our democracy and that she would speak with the commissioner to ensure we continue to respond to Canadians access to information requests.

Thats much closer to the answer the minister should have given in the first place, but it still falls well short of an acknowledgement of the problem and a commitment to fixing it. In fairness, though, this shouldnt all fall to the health minister. Wheres the prime minister?

It was Justin Trudeau who vowed in 2015 that he would make information more accessible and require that transparency to be a fundamental principle across the federal government. Instead, we got delay, inaction, and ultimately a worsening of the situation.

In early 2017, the previous information commissioner said the government uses the Access to Information Act as a shield against transparency and is failing to meet its policy objective to foster accountability and trust in our government.

Later that year, when the Liberals finally did present new legislation intended on increasing transparency, the commissioner found that it did the opposite. If passed, she said, the bill would result in a regression of existing rights,

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That same year, an audit commissioned by the group News Media Canada gave the government a failing grade for its handling of access to information. The report found that the federal system was much slower and less responsive than its provincial and municipal counterparts and concluded that the Liberal government has a long way to go if it is to deliver on its promises of transparent government.

Unfortunately, that still appears to be true. Thanks to Hajdus comments, we now have a better understanding as to why that is.

Rob Breakenridge is host of Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge on Global News Radio 770 Calgary and a commentator for Global News.

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COMMENTARY: Liberals reveal their indifference to Canadians' access to information rights - Global News

The Conservatives have a second motion coming for a vote Monday. That motion calls for a wide range of documents to be provided to the commons health committee and for ministers to testify about the pandemic response, including PPE contracts, rapid testing and vaccine limits.

That vote wont be a confidence measure, but an NDP source said had the Liberals tried to force that they would have lost the NDPs support.

Privately, Liberals insist they are not interested in an election, but told the National Post they were confident the opposition would back down. They also said, while they dont want one, they were not afraid of an election either and an increasingly difficult Parliament may leave them without options.

A Leger poll conducted last week, had the Liberals with 36 per cent support, ahead of the Conservatives at 29 per cent and the NDP at 18 per cent.

Reid, the former Martin advisor, said the Conservatives proposed committee had the potential to keep the attention away from the Liberals plans for the pandemic and onto scandals they want to move away from.

He said the move this week could potentially stabilize the minority parliament because it gives the Liberals control of the agenda and makes it clear theyre not afraid to push back.

If youre a sitting government and you fear an election, then youre a concession waiting to occur. And the opposition will smell it, and they will know it, and they will force it.

Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com | Twitter: ryantumilty

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Pushing back: Why the Trudeau Liberals were prepared to take Canada to an election - National Post

Greg Kyllo has become accustomed to serving as MLA for the Shuswap riding, but he will have to do it as part of the opposition party to a majority government for the first time.

On Oct. 24, Kyllo and a small group of family and supporters watched as the ballots were counted for the snap election called by BC NDP leader John Horgan in September. As results came in, an NDP majority government seemed to be the most likely outcome.

Although the outcome was different provincewide, Kyllo came out ahead in the Shuswap, securing the riding for the BC Liberals.

According to results reported shortly after 9:30 p.m. on election night, Oct. 24, Kyllo won 7,361 of 13,430 counted votes with 87 of 109 polls reporting. Sylvia Lindgren of the NDP had received 4,040 votes and BC Green Party candidate Owen Madden picked up 2,029 votes.

Kyllo said during the campaign he felt the same support from constituents which led him to his election for a second term in 2017.

I just really want to thank Shuswap residents for their support and for providing the opportunity to continue serving them as their MLA, Kyllo said.

He also extended thanks to his family and to the campaign staff and volunteers.

We tried to stay very positive with our campaign I think if anybody took the time and energy to actually compare the election platforms that were put forward, the BC Liberal platform was clearly the best opportunity to get out of this recession that were currently in, Kyllo said.

With a healthy economy, governments will have the necessary resources to provide those supports we all rely upon.

The results from the Oct. 24 ballots show Kyllo comfortably ahead, but mail-in and advance poll ballots are yet to be counted so official election results are not expected until mid November.

Read more: BC Votes 2020: Shuswap riding by the numbers

Read more: Horgan, NDP head for majority in B.C. election results

jim.elliot@saobserver.netLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

BC politics

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BC Election 2020: Preliminary results show BC Liberal Greg Kyllo winning third term as Shuswap MLA - Salmon Arm Observer

Todd Stones re-election in Kamloops-South Thompson was secured early in ballot counting, with the incumbent B.C. Liberal candidate jumping out to a large lead and never looking back.

Stones victory over NDP candidate Anna Thomas and Green candidate Dan Hines was the silver lining on a dark cloud of an election for his B.C. Liberal Party, which lost more than a dozen seats, based on election night vote counts and pending tabulation of about 500,000 mail-in ballots next month.

Voter turnout is estimated at 39 per cent.

The NDP rolled the dice on a snap election and rolled to a majority government win, securing 54 of 87 seats as of election night counting. The Liberals have 29 and the Greens are holding on to three seats the same number they held at dissolution.

Incumbent MLA Stone said he is grateful for his landslide victory on Saturday night, which breaks a 117-year streak in the riding of voters electing a government MLA.

Im grateful that the people of Kamloops-South Thompson have placed their trust in me for another four years to represent them, Stone said, adding he is also grateful for volunteers who worked on his campaign, Kamloops-North Thompson B.C. Liberal running mate Peter Milobar and family support.

Asked what went right during the campaign, Stone said he and Milobar demonstrated in the last term that working together gets results for the community.

Certainly, we stand up day in and day out and fight as hard as we can, Stone said. Im sure that these two constituencies are well represented and are the centre of the governments attention. That will continue. We put in front of our constituencies a range of specific commitments and priorities that were going to advocate.

Stone said at the top of the list is improved cancer care. During the election campaign, he and Milobar and the Liberals promised a cancer care facility in Kamloops and noted Premier John Horgan, also re-elected on Saturday night, announced a similar promise the following day.

Thats something it would appear we can find common ground with John Horgan and the NDP, so were going to make darn sure that the NDP follow through on their commitment this time and not betray the community, as they did the last time a cancer centre was promised by the NDP, Stone said, referring to a broken NDP promise in 1991.

While Stone secured a landslide victory, his B.C. Liberal party dd not fare as well, in line to lose more than a dozen seats, pending about 500,000 mail-in ballots to be counted as of Nov. 6.

Stone said internal reflection within the party will occur in the not-so-distant future to examine what did and did not work. He noted the party lost a number of seats in Metro Vancouver, but highlighted the fact the Liberals elected fresh faces and strong veterans.

Asked if party leader Andrew Wilkinson who defeated Stone in the 2018 leadership race should step down as leader, Stone touted his intelligence and focus and said he supports Wilkinson. He said the decision is Wilkinsons and the party will have time for reflection later.

If Wilkinson steps down will Stone again run for leadership?

Totally hypothetical and too early to start thinking about that kind of stuff, he said.

Pushed on his support, he said the message from a local perspective resonated.

On a provincial scale, lets see what happens when all the votes are counted over the next two or three weeks. Well see what happens and then go from there.

Hines said he was disappointed to come in third place, noting he was hoping for more votes. However, he said he still felt good overall about the campaign he ran.

Hines said he was not surprised by the result of a NDP majority government, noting snap elections favour incumbents, which have teams together and name recognition.

A snap election is a huge advantage and its pretty hard to overcome, Hines said. We knew that.

Hines called it a party vote and that the NDP pandemic response also played a factor.

Hines said he hoped the NDP calling the snap election would have been a deeper concern for voters during the pandemic.

The big story of the night is that the NDP are being kind of rewarded for making that call, he said. They basically got the result they wanted, which is deeply sad, but its the way it goes.

Pundits questioned how many seats the Greens would pick up. The party entered the election with a new leader and the NDP broke its agreement with the party to govern for another year under an agreement reached after the 2017 election.

Despite having lost the balance of power, Hines said he is happy with how the party fared, pointing to the B.C. Liberal party that lost many seats to the NDP.

As a Green, Im pretty happy with the results tonight, he said. Overall, for coming to this snap election, its pretty good for us to end up with three or four seats.

Asked if he would run again, Hines said he will reassess down the road.

Im just really grateful and thankful for everyone who contributed and jumped in, with the little bit of time we had to mobilize, he said.

Thomas watched the election results with her immediate family at home in North Kamloops. Her first time running for public office, Thomas said with a laugh that she doesnt know any different.

Usually Im on the other side, but this year Im behind the scenes, Thomas said. Front row, actually.

Thomas said it was exciting, labelling the campaign an amazing experience that went well.

I have awesome volunteers. Kamloops-South Thompson committee worked so hard, Thomas said. They did such an amazing job guiding me any way they can. It made it a little easier. I dont know how easy, she said with a laugh.

Earlier on Saturday, Thomas spent time with friends, met her Kamloops-North Thompson NDP running mate Sadie Hunter and waited for her sister to arrive from Calgary.

She said she tried to make her day as normal as possible.

Im feeling really good, she said. Its all been a learning process. Im just thankful. Its just really exciting to be part of the NDP movement and carve space for other women such as myself or people that have similar life experiences as me that, you know, I got to do this. Im out here doing it.

Read more:
Stone's win a silver lining on a dark cloud of an election for B.C. Liberals - Kamloops This Week

Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses supporters in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 11. (Sean Rayford / Getty Images)

To the editor: Cherry-picked poll results and pollster opinions are the basis for columnist Jonah Goldberg's premise that mostly liberals are freaked out that President Trump could win. In Goldberg's scheme, these are identified as "elected Democrats and blue checkmark liberal journalists and activists" who he implies are guilty of spreading panic and anxiety in the electorate.

Really?

In reality, four years of Trump's presidential contagion have left large segments of our society psychically sickened. With a backdrop of murderous virus pandemic, near economic collapse and wide societal discord, fears have likely morphed into resolve that Trump's hateful rhetoric and wrecking-ball administration must end.

Chuck Hackwith, San Clemente

..

To the editor: What makes liberals so special? I am a moderate who, like the liberals Goldberg mentions, is also "prone to flights of jangly rage if you suggest that Joe Biden has the race in the bag."

The thought of Trump's reign of terror and bigotry being extended four more years is unnerving, to put it mildly. So I too shout "Don't jinx it" and "That's what people said in 2016" when anyone suggests Biden is sure to win.

Jane Clarke, Marina del Rey

..

To the editor: Goldberg should not joke about panicked liberals needing to "take a Xanax."

It is a highly addictive prescription drug that is dangerous when misused. Consequently, psychiatrists are very reluctant to prescribe it.

When misused, the drug turns people into unruly, walking-dead types and predisposes them to using even more dangerous drugs.

James McManus, Phoenix

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Letters to the Editor: Liberals should panic about another Trump win. It'll get them to vote - Yahoo News