VICTORIA, B.C.: The NDP is pulling another curtain of secrecy around government.
By shutting the public out of the B.C. Government Directory, David Eby’s government is making it harder for taxpayers to see who works for them, how the bureaucracy is structured and just how much government has grown.
In a province already drowning in record deficits and government secrecy, the answer apparently isn’t more transparency. It’s less.
The province claims the decision is about cybersecurity and privacy but has provided no evidence to explain why the public now needs to be shut out, especially when parts of the directory have already been quietly redacted for years.
Without it, British Columbians will have a harder time seeing how big government has become, who is making decisions and where their tax dollars are going.
“Privacy and transparency must go hand in hand,” said Jody Toor, Shadow Minister for Government Services. “Protecting public employees from doxing, harassment and privacy breaches is important. But privacy cannot become an excuse for government to operate behind closed doors. British Columbians have a right to know how their government is structured and how their tax dollars are being managed. You can protect privacy without sacrificing accountability.”
Other governments have found ways to protect employees while keeping basic information about government available to the public. The NDP’s decision to simply shut the door looks less like a cybersecurity fix and more like another step away from transparency.
“A government running a record deficit doesn’t get to hide how many people are on the payroll,” said Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. “British Columbians can’t hold government accountable for a bloated bureaucracy if they’re not even allowed to see it. Closing this directory doesn’t solve a transparency problem. It creates one.”
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