While it remains unclear when and whether the government will present a revised Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill before Parliament, key stakeholders have reaffirmed their commitment to public education and consultation efforts as the government and Data Protection Commission perform the delicate balancing act between privacy and government accountability.
Speaking at the third annual National Data Protection Training Symposium on Friday, Data Protection Commissioner Sharmie Farrington-Austin stated that the commission has been making good progress in gathering public feedback following the government's release of a draft FOI bill in May. However, Farrington-Austin stressed that the Data Protection Commission (DPC) does not want to "corrupt the process" and would retain its neutrality and educational mandate as the public consultation period for the legislation winds down.
"Our intent was always to deal with this information. It is our responsibility to educate the public and that's why you're seeing this symposium to assist the process. Some people would say to move the process along, and that's fine. I don't have a problem with that - that is my job. We are not trying to keep the citizens from gaining access to government information. This is the 21st century.
"My view is that the public is always thinking that this is a journalistic thing, and yes, the journalists are the foremost [beneficiaries], but for me as commissioner, the beneficiary of this access to information is really the ordinary citizen who would want information with respect to a project that may be going on and then they feel involved in the decision making process of government," said Farrington-Austin.
Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald, who has ministerial responsibility for the FOI legislation, noted the sensitive nature of data dissemination in The Bahamas. Although Fitzgerald said that it is "encouraging" that civil society has taken such keen interest in implementing FOI legislation, he did not provide a timeframe to complete consultations and present the bill before Parliament.
"The Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General is working extremely hard to ensure that the Freedom of Information Bill is comprehensive and aligned with global standards before it becomes an act," he said.
The FOI Bill, 2015 would replace the previous Ingraham administration's FOI Bill, which was tabled in Parliament in October 2011 before being revised and ultimately passed in the Senate in February 2012. However, that legislation was never enacted and was widely criticized for its provisions for ministerial veto powers, which have been removed from the 2015 draft bill.
"The responsibility of the data commission is to really do our best to ensure that the citizens are benefitting from the legislation and not to coerce government, but to do all that we can with respect to advancing the legislation that falls primarily within our scope.
"We cannot expect the politician to do our job. Our job is to educate and make sure that the legislators get the information that they need," said Farrington-Austin, noting that it is ultimately civil society's responsibility to convince governments that FOI legislation was in their best interest."
One of the more contentious aspects of the revised legislation, however, is the appointment process for a new information commissioner, who would be appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister following consultation with the leader of the opposition under the current draft. However, Farrington-Austin on Friday said that she was personally in favor of such a system.
"If that commissioner is voted on by the public who may get someone who the public wants, but the disadvantage of that is that, as in every small nation, these processes become very political. So no matter what you say, you're going to have, perhaps, these people voting for their party's choice and so on... That can be a danger in and of itself," she said.
Jan Liebaers, acting information commissioner for the Cayman Islands, acknowledged challenges facing The Bahamas in implementing its own FOI legislation, but stressed that the country needs to find an FOI regime tailored to the country's needs that also preserve the "universal principles of democracy, administrative fairness and human rights".
"Freedom of information legislation risks being meaningless without a sincere will to change the way government does business and move from a culture of secrecy to a culture of openness. The necessary resources for proper administration, training and enforcement are another prerequisite that can facilitate or sink any legislation," stated Liebaers.
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