Bermuda's long-promised freedom of information bill will finally get debated in the House of Assembly today — with all parties eager to endorse it.

The Public Access to Information (PATI) Act 2010 should pave the way for a new era of open government — one in which citizens have the right to ask for records held by the departments and organisations their taxes fund.

But today — when the legislation is expected to get the backing of every MP in Parliament — will be just the beginning of a long road toward implementation. A PATI discussion paper published in 2005 predicted that it could take between three and five years to put in place an effective freedom of information regime.

Former PLP Premier Alex Scott, who first promised the public PATI in 2003, said last night he was delighted the idea had finally come to fruition.

The Government MP may have to leave Parliament to catch a flight today before the debate begins but he said the key point he wanted to get across was that PATI is "fundamental to a modern democracy".

"Rather than divide a government and the people, it actually builds trust," he said. "Once there is transparency, then the question marks melt away. The trust factor rises. That's been the experience in most, if not all, the jurisdictions that have implemented it."

Mr. Scott and many other politicians and community figures gave their support to The Royal Gazette's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign when it was launched in early 2008.

The campaign pushed for PATI to be put at the top of the PLP's agenda and called for publicly-funded bodies to open their doors to the people.

A draft bill was released for public consultation last October and the Cabinet Office received more than 500 submissions, including one from this newspaper.

We asked for the legislation to be retroactive and for the Minister responsible for PATI to seek MPs' approval before making any public body exempt from the law. The final bill included those changes and was tabled by Premier Ewart Brown in the House in May, when he said: "This is a significant moment in our history, one that demonstrates just how far we have come."

Yesterday, UBP MP John Barritt said he was very happy the bill was likely to be passed today.

"Persistence pays off," said the Opposition spokesman on legislative and public administration reform. "We have been looking forward to this day — not just the debate, but its passage. It's been a long-standing plank in my party's platform so we are pleased to see the first step. Through continued pressure, something finally did happen."

Bermuda Democratic Alliance chairman Michael Fahy said: "We will be supporting that piece of legislation — we have said it on the record the whole time — on the basis of it being retroactive."

Also on tomorrow's House of Assembly order paper is a motion to consider a report on electoral boundary changes.

But UBP leader Kim Swan yesterday repeated his fear Government may avoid pushing through a redrawn electoral map expected to have a crucial effect in several constituencies at the next General Election.

The document — put together by the Boundaries Commission early this year — gives a number of PLP MPs a tough task retaining their seats by shifting boundaries so their areas gain likely UBP voters; conversely some Government MPs in marginal seats are said to gain more likely PLP voters.

Mr. Swan has heard the motion might not be taken up before Parliament breaks for the summer, meaning if an election is called in the next few weeks the old map would be used.

"To think there's a possibility it's not going to be debated before the summer is unacceptable," said Mr. Swan.

The map was redrawn after population changes meant some constituencies, particularly St. David's, grew larger than others, meaning some residents' votes were seen to be diluted.

One piece of legislation which will be debated today is the Motor Car Amendment (No. 2) Act, which will allow owners of fractional hotel units to hire vehicles while they occupy their units.

This bill, to be presented by the Premier, comes after a string of regulations were passed to remove costly land charges and encourage investment in fractional developments.

And UBP MP John Barritt is expected to take up his private member's Parliamentary Election Amendment Act which would give the registrar power to strike incorrectly registered voters off the list.

Registrar Randy Scott says about 2,000 voters are currently registered incorrectly, with many of them able to vote in places they no longer live.