Senators pass controversial changes to Pati laws
Legislation to apply fees and time limits to public access to information requests was passed in the Upper House yesterday, but only after opposition senators forced a vote on the controversial amendment.
The Public Access to Information Amendment Bill will enable the Government to charge $60 per hour for any requests that exceed 16 hours to research and compile. Requests that take more than 100 hours to complete can be rejected.
Introducing the Bill, Mischa Fubler, the Junior Minister of the Cabinet Office, said: “The Government has established a framework that creates transparency and accountability with respect to information held by public authorities.”
He added that there had been more than 1,200 Pati requests in the past nine years.
He pointed out that the system, although “robust”, was now facing challenges.
Mr Fubler said that some Pati requests had resulted in civil servants having to trawl through thousands of pages of records, which was “exhausting public authority resources”.
He said: “Many of these challenges relate to the management of voluminous and sometimes complex requests, given limited resources.
“Responding to Pati requests requires significant time and effort to first conduct an appropriate search and then produce those records.
“Some requesters sometimes make broad and ill-defined requests for any and all correspondence relating to an issue over extended time periods, often years, without a willingness to refine the search criteria.”
Mr Fubler said that the fee would encourage applicants to submit more focused questions rather than broad requests.
The move was condemned by One Bermuda Alliance senators.
Douglas De Couto, the Shadow Minister of Finance, said that the problem could be resolved if more resources and training were allocated to Pati requests.
Dr De Couto also pointed out that despite claims by the Government that it had carried out a consultation process before drafting the Bill, it had been condemned by Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, whose office oversees Pati requests.
Dwayne Robinson said it would send a message that the Government was not interested in promoting transparency.
He added that while a fee would boost the Government’s coffers, it failed to address the underlying lack of resources.
He said: “It doesn’t address staffing issues, which will still be there. We want to promote Pati, not stifle it. We don’t want to pass legislation that is going to disincentivise people from using it.
Robin Tucker, the OBA Senate Leader, suggested that the Government should share information by default, thus making many Pati requests unnecessary.
Independent senator John Wight was also critical.
He said: “Too often the public get deprived of information they should be able to get.
“When I read this Bill line by line, I found myself disagreeing with the reasons why this legislation is better and more efficient. I am disappointed with this legislation, as it contradicts good practices.”
Kim Wilkerson, the Attorney-General, defended the Bill.
She said that she had also questioned the need for fees, but felt confident that the Government was not attempting to deter Pati applications.
She echoed earlier concerns by MPs about “vexatious applications”, suggesting that some Pati requests were made to embarrass the Government and were not submitted “with good purpose”.
When the Bill was put to a vote, all three independent senators ultimately chose to back it, and voted with the five on the government side, while the opposition senators went against. The Bill was passed by eight votes to three.
One other piece of legislation was rubber-stamped by senators during the session.
The Employment Amendment Act 2024 will increase severance allowance payments from 26 weeks to 32 for staff who have been in continuous work with an employer for 13 years or more.
Arianna Hodgson, the Government’s finance spokeswoman in the Senate, said the increase would give those who have been made redundant more time to look for work.
She said the Government recognised the rising cost of doing business in Bermuda, but emphasised that employers had to provide a minimum standard.
The Bill was supported by the OBA.
After yesterday’s Senate session, the One Bermuda Alliance issued a statement questioning the new Pati rules.
Douglas De Couto, the Shadow Minister of Finance, said that the system was “an important tool to increase the Government’s accountability and transparency”.
He added that changes would hamper its ability to keep the public informed.
Dr De Couto said: “Remember, it was Pati that enabled Bermuda to find out that $16.5 million of taxpayers’ 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 $11 million 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 learnt 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’.
“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?”
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