Statement on PATI Amendment Act

So ask yourself: why is the Government trying to make it easier to hide from you? Written by Shadow Finance Minister, Senator Douglas De Couto Bermuda’s Public Access to Information Act (PATI) is an important tool to increase the Government’s accountability and transparency to the people of Bermuda. That’s why today in the Senate the One Bermuda Alliance voted against the Government’s PATI Amendment Act, which weakens and restricts PATI. This Act creates new fees and adds time limits that allow departments to deny requests. But Government has done nothing to improve the ability of public officers to handle PATI requests or increase transparency by default. For example, by supplying training and resources. Remember, it was PATI that enabled Bermuda to find out that $16.5m of taxpayer’s money has been wasted on the failed Gaming Commission. It was PATI that enabled Bermuda to learn how the Government had to step in and pay $11m of severance payments that Gencom could not, when the Fairmont Southampton was closed. It was PATI that enabled to Bermuda to learn the details of how BELCO pollution was affecting Pembroke residents, and the problems with the Historical Land Loss Commission of Inquiry. These are just some of the many topics of important public interest that we learned from PATI, and which the Government would have preferred you not to know. In fact, this Government has as a rule fought tooth and nail to hide any and all information from the public. Remember, PATI is not just for the newspapers and politicians. It’s also for Mr. and Mrs. Smith who need to get information about how Government has treated them, or a civil servant or member of the uniformed services who may not have been treated fairly, for example. And PATI should be for everyone, even if they cannot afford the fees. Government says that the proposed changes are “the same” as those in other jurisdictions, but that’s not true. Don’t believe me? The Information Commissioner says they “fall short of the comprehensive and well-established legislative frameworks found in other Jurisdictions”, and “lack important and well-established safeguards”. And other jurisdictions have better support and funding for their PATI equivalents, and better rules that make Government information public by default. This alone would reduce the so-called administrative burden from PATI. In fact, in our platform, the One Bermuda Alliance pledges to be a Government that is “Accountable to the People”, including open data portals for financial records, meeting records and performance reports. So ask yourself: why is the Government trying to make it easier to hide from you?