Longer Waits Under Manitoba Information Law - Beritaja

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba authorities has been taking longer to respond to state of accusation requests and collecting much money from group filing them, recently released figures show.

Government departments and agencies fulfilled much than 1,200 state of accusation requests successful the fiscal twelvemonth that ended successful March, said the government’s yearly study connected its state of accusation law, released past week.

A small much than half — 55 per cent — were completed wrong the normal 45-day play required by law, aliases aft much clip nether an allowable hold successful cases involving a ample measurement of records aliases wherever different governments aliases group must beryllium consulted.

That on-time completion complaint was down from 69 per cent the erstwhile twelvemonth and 70 per cent the twelvemonth before.

People seeking accusation paid much than $13,000 collectively — much than triple the magnitude successful the erstwhile twelvemonth and much than 10 times the magnitude collected the twelvemonth earlier that.

One master said higher fees could person a dampening effect connected group who activity accusation from the provincial authorities and different nationalist bodies covered nether the law.

“Higher fees could discourage requests from individuals who do not person entree to discretionary income for specified a purpose,” said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of governmental subject astatine the University of Manitoba.

The NDP government, elected successful October 2023, said the delays are driven partially by the caller centralization of the handling of accusation requests nether the Finance department.

“There’s immoderate bully activity happening successful that area to put successful training and staffing up, and I deliberation we’re going to activity our measurement done immoderate of those timing delays successful the adjacent future,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala said successful an interview.

The higher fees are partially a consequence of that centralization, which has resulted successful much standardized interest assessments, Sala added.

There is nary upfront interest to taxable a state of accusation petition successful Manitoba, and each exertion gets 2 hours of free unit clip to hunt and process records. Beyond that 2 hours, applicants are to beryllium charged $15 for each half-hour of unit time. The hourly complaint has not changed successful caller memory.

“So possibly successful the erstwhile (years), successful immoderate departments, they would determine not to complaint personification for a (request) that whitethorn require complete 2 hours of work,” Sala said.

“I deliberation we’re seeing a much accordant exertion of the fees done that centralization.”

The money collected past twelvemonth was besides driven up partially by requests that progressive a ample measurement of records related to a projected silica soil excavation and the hunt of a landfill for the remains of murdered Indigenous women, Sala added.

Some applications this twelvemonth person been met pinch interest estimates of hundreds aliases thousands of dollars each.

A caller exertion by BERITAJA for records of connection betwixt the premier’s agency and representatives of the United States regarding the shooting decease of blimpish activistic Charlie Kirk, complete a three-day period, was met pinch a interest estimate of $840.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives applied successful the summertime for each records related to the province’s nationalist lodging stock, connected topics including repairs and vacancies, complete a 15-month play and were met pinch a interest estimate of $15,190, documents provided by the Tory caucus show.

The other clip and higher interest postulation comes contempt a semipermanent inclination that has seen less state of accusation requests revenge pinch the government.

The number of applications varies from twelvemonth to year, and location was an summation of 277 requests — aliases 17 per cent — past twelvemonth complete the twelvemonth before. But moreover past year’s full was 1,000 little than the number revenge successful 2021, and respective 100 beneath the number revenge successful 2022.

Almost half of the requests revenge successful the past fiscal twelvemonth came from individuals, while the bulk of the remainder came from media outlets and governmental parties, the study said.

This study by BERITAJA was first published Oct. 19, 2025.

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