Potentially embarrassing information requests "amber-lighted" by bureaucra

[tuvor]

OTTAWA - The federal government is singling out the access to information requests of some Canadians for closer scrutiny and special treatment, despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's sharp criticism of the practice when he was in opposition.

According to an e-mail dated June 12, by Citizenship and Immigration Canada access co-ordinator Heather Primeau, the government is ''amber lighting'' access requests that are considered to be more politically sensitive.

''The amber light process is a heads up process to advise senior management of upcoming access to information releases that may attract media or political attention,'' says a note at the bottom of Primeau's e-mail in which she alerts a series of departmental officials to the upcoming release of an ''amber lighted'' access request.

The e-mail, which outlines five things being released that could result in questions to the government, was sent to 19 officials in the Citizenship and Immigration department. Among them was Brooke Pigott, a policy advisor in Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg's office.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=e2888c59-a2c6-4ef8-be60-76533d2c8233&k=91330

[Bragi]

1. Why wouldn't bureaucrats do that?

This is a silly non-issue.

If you were a responsible communications official in government, would you not want to be sure that you knew what and when access requests would be released, given that the department has an obligation to respond to any questions arising from the release of any documents?

I would want to know this information.

- B