Rhino's Ramblings - Silence In A Land Of FOIs
By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary
With July now over the time of taking it easy and writing next to nothing has officially come to an end and it is time to get back at it and start to turn out some stories.
For those who have been watching MJ Independent is now carrying a series called “Where’s The Beef” an intensive look into the cattle and beef markets and how there are record prices for beef at the retail level while cattle ranchers and farmers are losing money.
In many people’s minds the question needs to be asked why and how did this ever come to be?
The series is not just being featured in MJ Independent but it is also being carried in one cattle trade journal with the possibility to be picked up in three other cattle trade publications including one that is located south of the border.
Is the series a be all to end all when it comes to what is happening in the Saskatchewan and Canadian cattle markets? No it is not but at the same time it is a very good resource and yes I will have to admit I pulled out some historical research that most in the cattle industry here were unaware of.
A message from the past warning what could happen if a few players got control of one part of the cattle logistical chain and then used their size to remove competition from the marketplace. As far back as 1976 the warnings were there and by all appearances it looks like what was predicted on the bad side of consolidation and economies of scale has come true.
The other big story that I have been working on now for many months is getting the Moose Jaw Police Service’s (MJPS) budget released. All I can tell you is that it is still a work in progress.
In my opinion the transparency and accountability that make good public policy on how the MJPS budget breaks down is far from being released. It is something that I continue to pursue.
It all goes back to the original column where I released parts of the MJPS budget I had received from sources that I am not going to name. It is something I personally feel needs to be further approached no matter what some may think about it.
If Rick Bourassa, MJPS chief and his cronies in the Regina Police Service cannot scare me into revealing who told me what and when do you really think I am going to stop trying to get what is legally releasable to the public released to the public?
That is highly unlikely.
But I can tell you a few things about the MJPS Budget or rather how it has changed.
At the present time I have two active Requests For Review regarding two Freedom Of Information requests I have made into the MJPS budget and the circumstances surrounding me making those requests.
The two active Request For Reviews submitted by me have now morphed into four separate files of review at the Saskatchewan Office Of Information and the Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).
Reviews are not handed out automatically like candy.
Certain steps need to be taken to determine if an early resolution is possible and barring that does the alleged denial or withholding of records actually warrant a review?
If you get things to that juncture in my opinion that usually means at the end of it all the OIPC is likely to release something more than has already been received.
These reviews take time - I have been through one before which I won regarding the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre - up to a year to come back and they provide recommendations to improve access and what should be released.
I can tell you though that after I started to dig into exactly what the MJPS budget entailed there is coincidently a new openness of a sort between the MJPS and the Moose Jaw Board Of Police Commissioners.
The Moose Jaw Board Of Police Commissioners is, after years, finally as of their January meeting receiving a monthly budget update from the Chief of Police’s office dealing with how much of the 2022 budget has been spent.
It might sound strange to you but so long as I have been covering the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners it is something the commissioners have not been receiving.
It sort of begs the question how can the Board of Police Commissioners, as the de facto employers of the MJPS (who spend just over 22 percent of the City of Moose Jaw’s entire operating budget), make accurate decisions without any information?
The Board of Police Commissioners are finally receiving a major component to actively completer their roles properly. They can thank me later I suppose once they, as I am lead to believe and is also my own personal opinion, are finished with grinding their teeth.
In their latest meeting the Moose Jaw Board Of Police Commissioners were even told that the force had almost expended its 2022 budget in one area. It is something that the old way of having no monthly updates the Board of Police Commissioners would in my opinion most likely be ignorant of.
The Moose Jaw Board Of Police Commissioners has even made the move to take a major issue - hiring a consultant to create a five year strategic plan - from being an in-camera to an out of camera process and doing the right thing and making it public.
With that said there are still a lot of questions which need to be asked about the MJPS’s spending in the past.
Just what was spent and where and of most importance why needs to be answered. Why are we spending money in one area or another when we have been told or the statistics prove it, it is not a problem?
Is there something here we are not being told here that if we knew at the time may have had us act differently to the issue???
But while I wait for the answers to my Request For Review and the original FOIs in essence there is much more going on behind the scenes.
I am working patiently to have another FOI released on an issue I have been working on on the backburner for well over five years.
It is a tough nut to crack to be sure.
And really until I mentioned it here in this column my guess is that people who may be able to guess what information I am attempting to access are more than likely thinking I have long ago just given up.
But that is the furthest thing really from the truth.
Looking for this information through an FOI has been one of the most circuitous trails I have yet to follow.
It is one of those FOIs that you need to do a lot of background stuff on first to finally get to the point where I felt comfortable submitting an FOI to.
First off the particular provincial entity I am trying to access information from up until recently used their legal department as their Freedom Of Information office. It made getting information seemingly difficult as the legal department is also responsible for protecting the organization.
I first had to appeal to somehow get rid of the legal department handling FOI requests first and then I could submit my FOIs.
Well for those of you who follow me a little bit more closely a few months ago I managed to successfully argue having the legal department handle FOI requests really took away from the true spirit of the Act.
I am no lawyer but my arguments held the day and I was successful.
Then there is the waiting for the change to happen and then you can finally submit the FOI to a much more impartial entity. So long as releasing the information is legal they have assured me they will be releasing the information regardless if it impacts their employer.
The legal department handling FOI requests is no longer happening now and there is a dedicated two person department in charge of it.
After all of the efforts to open the doors so to speak I seem to have lost track how long some of the things I have been looking for information on end up taking.
It’s a tough one to crack in today’s world where readers and viewers want instant stories and gratification.
The days of long and in-depth examinations are seemingly over and with it the need to ask more questions.
To think more than 15 seconds on something and in the end moving on.
It’s like the social media Ap Tik Tok which in my opinion is one of the greatest dumber downers of society out there. We are all it seems looking for a 15 second clip to properly explain issues and have people asking questions.
People are losing sight of the big picture and the issues which impact us. Is it apathy, is it information overload or is it just plain people being dumbed down by the world we live in.
It is really hard to tell but I do know people quite frankly are ever more less inclined to ask questions, let alone hope to receive answers.
With that said after all of the work to receive the information I am hoping to receive in the next two or three weeks I can honestly say I have no idea as to whether or not there is anything there.
It is just like the old Wendy’s commercials of the older lady asking “Where’s The Beef?” Will I get the meat of the matter or will it be mainly a soggy bun?
Will what I have been working on for half a decade produce results or not is not clear at the present time.