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MacDonald Says Public Information Being Held for Ransom |
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Written by NS Liberal Party
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Friday, 10 February 2006 |
Liberal Energy Critic, Manning MacDonald, says Service Nova Scotia is holding for ransom public information about the Keep the Heat program.
The department is charging the Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus Office $2,190 for a request made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The caucus office requested 30 days of correspondence between the department and its information call center staff to learn why false information about who qualified for rebates was given to the public.
"This is an obvious attempt to discourage the public from getting to the bottom of this debacle," said MacDonald. "The information should be free."
MacDonald said the public deserves to know why this program has been plagued with problems since the beginning of this year. Errors made include the department issuing duplicate cheques to 126 people, the Service Nova Scotia Info-line giving out false information to people calling, and, most recently, a delay in sending out applications because of a lack of return-addressed envelopes.
"All of these things point out the incompetence of this government," said MacDonald. "What should have been a simple procedure to relieve people of the high cost of heat has been riddled with problems since the get go." |
