EDMONTON, AB: When a department stands alone in refusing to go paperless, does anyone notice?
During National Forest Week, Wildrose Shadow Environment Minister Todd Loewen is saying it’s time for the Ministry of Environment and Parks to follow their own mandate outlined in the Greening Government Strategy, and go paperless for their freedom of information (FOIP) department, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.
“It’s astounding that the government department that received more FOIP requests than all other ministries combined and two-thirds of total requests is resisting common sense changes to save taxpayer money and improve our environmental footprint,” Loewen said.
Currently, Environment and Parks is one of the only departments across government that does not allow paperless communications for freedom of information requests.
“While the NDP government have been talking about levelling new carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems, their own departments haven’t made practical and meaningful steps to shrink our impact on the environment,” Loewen said. “Environment Minister Shannon Phillips needs to demonstrate her department isn’t all bark and no bite, and implement common-sense solutions.”
Wildrose has made repeated requests throughout 2015 for the FOIP department to update its standards and practices, but to date no changes have been made.