NDP Watch

"Freedom FROM Information": The NDP's Bill-9 Would Be the Biggest Gutting of BC's FOI Law in Decades

The man who helped write BC's original Freedom of Information Act calls the NDP's Bill-9 a move from "freedom of information to freedom FROM information." The NDP isn't even bothering to defend it — they have their majority.

May 3, 2026 · Source: Vancouver Sun / Vaughn Palmer

British Columbia once had the best access to information legislation in Canada. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act was written in the 1990s under an NDP government — and it was genuinely progressive. Now, in 2026, a different NDP government is tearing it apart.

Bill-9, introduced earlier this year and now advancing through the legislature, would give bureaucrats sweeping new powers to reject, delay, and narrow freedom of information requests. Critics from across the political spectrum have lined up against it. The NDP's response, for the most part, has been silence — because with their legislative majority, they don't need to argue.

Who's Calling It Out

The most pointed critique has come from an unlikely source: Green MLA Rob Botterell, who was one of the architects of BC's original FOI legislation. Under the 1990s NDP government, Botterell headed the public service team that built the Act — a law that earned national recognition as the country's gold standard for access to government information.

"The Eby government is using Bill-9 to move BC from 'freedom of information to freedom FROM information.'"

— Green MLA Rob Botterell, BC Legislature, 2026

BC Conservative MLAs have been equally direct about what they believe the NDP is trying to hide.

Surrey-Panorama MLA Bryan Tepper put it bluntly: "Why, in 2026, are we moving backward on transparency? It's because this NDP government has realized that their policies cannot withstand scrutiny. They don't want you to see the internal memos on why the decriminalization of hard drugs failed so spectacularly. They don't want you to see the correspondence regarding the cost overruns on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain or the North Shore wastewater treatment plant. They don't want you to see the deals regarding Indigenous land claims that are being cut without public consultation."

What Bill-9 Actually Does

Framed as a modernization of the existing FOI Act, Bill-9 would significantly shift the balance of power from citizens seeking information to bureaucrats deciding whether to provide it.

Key Changes Under Bill-9

New "nuisance" clause: Officials can reject requests if responding would "unreasonably interfere with the operations of the government of BC" — a deliberately vague standard set at the official's discretion
Broader bureaucratic authority: Agency heads and senior administrators gain expanded power to narrow, delay, and refuse requests based on subjective factors
No clear public interest override: Changes tilt the burden of ambiguity toward government and away from the requesting public
Steered by weaker cabinet minister: Bill-9 is being shepherded through the house by Citizens' Services Minister Diana Gibson — demoted to this portfolio after a faltering performance in Economic Development

Skeena Conservative MLA Claire Rattee described her direct experience of trying to obtain government-commissioned reports on the toxic drug crisis and addiction policy through the existing FOI system — with zero results.

"These are reports that are being used to justify decisions that are affecting communities across this province — or not. I wouldn't know because I haven't been able to see them. Not a partial disclosure, not heavily redacted records, nothing."

She added: "I've been waiting almost a year now for any of these reports. So if we make this system even worse, if we make it even less accessible, then what?"

Chilliwack MLA Cuts to the Core

Chilliwack North Conservative MLA Heather Maahs offered perhaps the sharpest analysis of what Bill-9 really changes — and who it benefits:

"This bill changes who carries the burden, who gets the benefit of ambiguity, who controls the pace. It changes who can call scrutiny unreasonable. It changes who decides whether a request is acceptable. And in every one of those changes, the balance tilts the same way — toward government and away from the public."

— Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs, BC Legislature, 2026

The Government's Cover: A Compliant Watchdog

The NDP's main defence of Bill-9 is that Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey praised it. NDP MLA Stephanie Higginson gushed in the legislature: "The ministry received praise from the actual Information and Privacy Commissioner himself. I mean, that's a pretty great endorsement. It actually takes up an entire page."

What Higginson left out: Harvey was consulted in advance of the bill's introduction — by the government that wrote it. His praise amounts to a watchdog thanking the government for asking him to dinner before putting him on a leash.

The Bottom Line

BC's FOI Act was once a national model. Under Bill-9, bureaucrats will be able to reject requests by simply declaring they're "unreasonably interfering with operations." The NDP isn't defending the bill — they're just passing it. And they have the votes to do exactly that.

In a government already hiding the Premier's calendar, concealing ministerial travel records, and negotiating Indigenous land deals behind non-disclosure agreements, the passage of Bill-9 would close the last window most British Columbians have into what's being done in their name.

Sources: Vancouver Sun / Vaughn Palmer, "Under cover of DRIPA, NDP pressing on with legislation to weaken FOI," May 2026. BC Legislature Hansard, 2026 spring session. Statements from MLA Rob Botterell (Green), MLA Bryan Tepper (BC Conservative), MLA Claire Rattee (BC Conservative), MLA Heather Maahs (BC Conservative), MLA Stephanie Higginson (BC NDP).