Opposition sends three more cases to secrecy scandal investigation

burning_bookVICTORIA – Whistleblower Tim Duncan’s allegations of Liberal staff deliberately destroying public records in the Christy Clark government are just the tip of the iceberg.

As Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham launches an investigation into the former Liberal staffer’s allegations, New Democrats are bringing forward three other cases where Freedom of Information requests have returned bizarre “no records” responses.

“No one believes that days and days go by without a minister’s chief of staff sending or receiving a single email, but that’s exactly what the B.C. Liberal government claims,” said Doug Routley, New Democrat spokesperson for Citizen Services. “It’s clear that these public records are being routinely and deliberately destroyed, and the people of British Columbia deserve to know why.”

Routley has written to Denham about three cases where the government has denied that requested documents even exist, even though New Democrats have obtained these documents through overlapping Freedom of Information requests.

“There is a culture of hiding the truth in the Christy Clark government,” said Routley. “When a government feels the need to hide things from the public, even routine correspondence, something is very wrong.

“We’ve already seen that this includes deleting information relating to missing and murdered women in B.C., it makes you wonder if anything is off limits for them.”

ATTACHMENT: Doug Routley letter to Elizabeth Denham, B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner