09/14/2024
Alberta refuses to release responses to government's pension plan survey
Matthew Black
Edmonton Journal
Published Feb 14, 2024
Alberta’s finance ministry is refusing to release responses from the public to its online survey regarding a potential Alberta pension plan following a freedom of information request from Postmedia.
The survey was launched on Sept. 21, 2023, the same day the province released its pension plan report that claimed Alberta would be entitled to 53 per cent of the Canada Pension Plan’s (CPP) assets, some $334 billion, should it choose to withdraw and form its own provincial plan.
The survey ran until Dec. 10 but drew criticism for not providing options in its multiple choice section to express opposition to the idea of leaving the CPP.
Two days later, Postmedia filed a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) to Treasury Board and Finance (TBF) seeking the written, open answer responses to the survey.
On Wednesday, the request was returned with hundreds of pages that were all withheld by the ministry, who cited section 24 (1) of the FOIP Act that allows for exemptions or exclusions based on advice, proposals, recommendations, analyses or policy options.
“Treasury Board and Finance has decided not to give you access to the records you requested,” a letter from TBF’s FOIP staff states.
Postmedia has already filed a request for review of the decision with the office of the information and privacy commissioner.
An unsigned email from TBF’s communications staff stated the survey was part of the work being done by the province’s pension engagement panel.
“The records you requested are part of that larger analysis and will feed into the panel’s report, therefore they cannot be released,” it states, also citing section 24 (1) of the FOIP Act.
Other departments within the Alberta government have not had difficulty returning similar recent requests.
Last month, the Municipal Affairs Ministry provided both summary data of multiple choice responses as well as hundreds of long-form answers to its survey on adding party affiliation to ballots in municipal elections. The data showed that more than 70 per cent of respondents were against the idea.
A month earlier, the department of Communications and Public Engagement provided a full response to a request for emails from the public regarding a potential provincial pension plan the day after the pension report was released. More than 90 per cent of original responses, excluding form letters, were opposed to leaving the CPP.
And, last April and again in September, the Preston Manning-led Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel returned several hundred pages worth of replies to its survey asking for feedback on how government should approach future public health emergencies that was also used in its subsequent report.
In both instances, the most common replies stressed the need for greater reliance on expertise and medical professionals. Last November, the Alberta government enacted legislation giving politicians, not medical experts, the final say on public health emergencies.
In August, Alberta privacy commissioner Diane McLeod began a government-wide investigation into the provincial government’s handling of FOIP requests following reporting by the Narwhal and the Globe and Mail.
On Wednesday, her office confirmed that investigation remains ongoing and that its 12-month timeline is unchanged.
Alberta has paused its pension plan engagement sessions until the office of the chief actuary of Canada provides its estimate of Alberta’s potential asset withdrawal from the CPP, something Smith has said she expects in the fall.
mblack@postmedia.com
