I've put together a pamphlet explaining Bill 29 (available here).  Nice to have on hand if you are collecting signatures for a petition.  Comments are welcome.

The NDP are circulating a petition calling for the repeal of Bill 29.  An electronic version can be downloaded here.  In order for the petition to be accepted, all signatures must be in the original ink and each page submitted must have a minimum of three signatures on it.   Signatures should me mailed to the address at the bottom of the page, or sent to one of the NDP MHAs.

Remember, petitioning gives you the opportunity to engage the members of your community on this important issue.  The more people know about Bill 29, the less likely they will tolerate this attack on our right to know what our government is doing.

Close to a hundred people turned out on a cold and windy June afternoon in Support of Access to Information.  Check out this lead story on CBC (unedited footage here), some videos shot by Jennifer McCreath, and photos taken by participants. News coverage links below.

Occupy NL is calling on concerned citizens to protest against the provincial government's Bill 29. This Saturday at 1 pm we will meet up in front of Confederation Building to voice our discontent.  Bring a sign (and maybe even your pots and pans) to show how important government transparency and accountability is to you!

THE ISSUE...

Bill 29, a new bill just introduced, will make sweeping changes to Newfoundland and Labrador's access to information laws. News reports have raised concerns that this will put more power into the hands of cabinet ministers to give the public access to information or not.

"Proposed legislative changes will allow the provincial government to keep ministerial briefings secret, ignore requests for information that cabinet ministers deem to be 'frivolous,' and bar the auditor general from a wider array of records," CBC reports.

 Interesting turn of events from a government whose campaign platform assured voters of openness and transparency.

 The CBC article continues: "But since taking office, the Tories have worked to erode the act, filing lawsuits to restrict the powers of the watchdog tasked with investigating citizens’ complaints, and adopting narrow interpretations of the information that can be released to taxpayers."

More resources: