It is one of the ironies of the news business. The public usually doesn't have an opinion on information or its importance to them until such information is made public and they have a chance to read it.
This may seem obvious to many readers.
After all, most readers understand that reporters collect and present information in news stories. Readers seldom phone or email me asking how they can file Freedom of Information requests, or how to pry information out of city hall.
They assume, quite understandably, that reporters are supposed to be doing that for them.
But apparently, there are still politicians who believe that reporters are just digging up information for the heck of it.
Consider Burnaby's decision not to put election campaign expense forms online.
Burnaby is, perhaps, the only city in the Lower Mainland that has not, or is in the process of, putting the disclosures online.
Coun. Sav Dhaliwal told our reporter that he hasn't heard much complaint or feedback from the public asking for the election disclosures to be posted online.
No, probably not. People rightly expect the information will be made public via the media. It is our job.
Dhaliwal also said, "Other than newspaper reporters, I wonder if anybody looks at them. Staff hasn't brought it up to us as a major issue."
I'm not sure if Dhaliwal is deliberately missing the point or if he is part of a concerted effort to make it as difficult as possible for the media to access the information. It's hard to tell.
Surely he understands that fewer people will potentially "look" at them if the documents are not online. Surely he also understands that staff - given that they are employees - are apt not to fight for easier access to documents that reveal what their political bosses may not want to broadcast. (Oh, and not to suggest that there's any connection, but the city's CUPE union local - the one that many staff are members of - donated $20,000 to the ruling party's election campaign.)
Dhaliwal also said, "I think there are a few other things ahead of this that I believe are more of a priority for taxpayers."
Is he suggesting that the staff time to put election campaign expense disclosures online once every couple of years is going to derail some important business at city hall? It boggles the mind. And just in case readers wonder why only Coun. Dhaliwal spoke to the question - well, apparently, most of council was on a junket to sister city Mesa, Arizona this past week.
Freedom of information is essential to a democracy. And freedom of information doesn't just mean that the information is available - if you have the resources and time to spend copying such information by hand in city hall - it also means that there is a level of transparency and accessibility that does not deter information seekers. City halls, organizations or institutions that purport to model accountability or transparency while making it as difficult as possible for folks to simply access information, are surely missing the point.
Patrick Smith is an SFU political science professor and current director of the Institute of Governance Studies.
He said: "Burnaby should know better. They talk about how they were voted best managed municipality (by Maclean's Magazine), but I don't know how this can be considered a best practice."
I agree.
Making the public (or reporters) go to city hall to copy documents is, simply, backward.
In the olden days one had to actually go to city hall in person to pay taxes. Nowadays one can pay online. That's as it should be.
The failure of Burnaby's one-party government to simply do what makes sense unfortunately fuels its political foes' claims that it is trying to obstruct easy access to politically sensitive information.
Why, one wonders, would the Burnaby Citizens' Association, want to hand opponents ammunition? After all, it's not as if there's some grand principle behind keeping such documents offline. At least nobody has told us there is.
Could it just be a display of stubbornness in the face of criticism?
I hope not.
Pat Tracy is the editor of the Burnaby NOW and its sister paper, The Record.
