The timing was not a coincidence.

This week, Premier David Eby was consumed by the political firestorm over DRIPA — the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act — fielding questions from angry MLAs, backpedaling from a suspension he had floated and then abandoned, and attempting to clarify positions that satisfied nobody. It was, by any measure, a week of maximum distraction.

And while all eyes were on that crisis, the BC NDP quietly pushed Bill-9 back to the forefront of debate in the legislature — a bill that senior columnist Vaughn Palmer of the Vancouver Sun calls legislation designed to move BC “from freedom of information to freedom FROM information.”

That phrase belongs to Green MLA Rob Botterell — and his credibility on this issue is unimpeachable. Botterell is literally one of the architects of BC’s original Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In the 1990s, he headed the public service team that drafted the legislation — legislation that was regarded at the time as the best access-to-information law in the country.

Now he’s watching the NDP dismantle it.

What Bill-9 Actually Does

Bill-9 was introduced two months ago, ostensibly to “modernize” freedom of information processes. On closer examination, it does the opposite. The revisions would expand the power of bureaucrats, agency heads, and senior government officials to narrow, delay, and reject information requests — based largely on their own subjective judgments.

One of the most egregious provisions: officials could reject FOI requests simply because “responding to the request would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the government of B.C.” In other words, if releasing information is inconvenient, the government can refuse.

Conservative MLA Heather Maahs (Chilliwack North) dissected the bill in the legislature:

“This bill changes who carries the burden, who gets the benefit of ambiguity, who controls the pace. It changes who can call scrutiny unreasonable. It changes who decides whether a request is acceptable. And in every one of those changes, the balance tilts the same way — toward government and away from the public.”

— Heather Maahs, BC Conservative MLA (Chilliwack North), BC Legislature 2026

The Documents They Don’t Want You to See

The debate over Bill-9 has produced a remarkable catalogue of government secrecy — specific documents that MLAs have requested and been denied, sometimes for nearly a year. What emerges is a picture of a government that has systematically withheld information about its biggest policy failures.

๐Ÿ”’ Documents the NDP Won’t Release

  • Dr. Daniel Vigo’s drug crisis reports — Vigo was hired by the government as its senior advisor on the toxic drug crisis, mental health, and addictions. His reports were used to justify major government policy decisions. Skeena MLA Claire Rattee has been waiting nearly a year for any of them. She’s received nothing: “Not a partial disclosure, not heavily redacted records, nothing.”
  • Larry Campbell’s Downtown Eastside reports — Campbell was appointed as the NDP’s Downtown Eastside “czar.” The government publicly acknowledged his work as “critical to understanding what is happening in one of the most vulnerable communities in BC.” The reports are unavailable.
  • Internal memos on drug decriminalization failure — Why did BC’s decriminalization experiment collapse? What did the government know, and when? Those internal records remain hidden.
  • Surrey-Langley SkyTrain cost overruns — The SkyTrain extension has ballooned in cost. The correspondence about why is being withheld.
  • North Shore wastewater treatment plant cost overruns — Same pattern: a major public infrastructure project, spiralling costs, and zero transparency.
  • Indigenous land deal correspondence — The deals being cut under DRIPA, without public consultation, the letters and agreements that determine who gets what. Hidden.

MLA Rattee laid out the stakes plainly in the legislature:

“These are documents that are directly tied to government policy, particularly in the context of the addiction crisis and concurrent disorders. These are reports that are being used to justify decisions that are affecting communities across this province — or not. I wouldn’t know because I haven’t been able to see them.”

— Claire Rattee, BC Conservative MLA (Skeena), BC Legislature 2026

She added: “I’ve been waiting almost a year now for any of these reports. So if we make this system even worse, if we make it even less accessible, then what?”

Surrey-Panorama MLA Names the Motive

Conservative MLA Bryan Tepper (Surrey-Panorama) didn’t mince words about why the government wants to weaken FOI:

“Why, in 2026, are we moving backward on transparency? It’s because this NDP government has realized that their policies cannot withstand scrutiny. They don’t want you to see the internal memos on why the decriminalization of hard drugs failed so spectacularly. They don’t want you to see the correspondence regarding the cost overruns on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain or the North Shore wastewater treatment plant. They don’t want you to see the deals regarding Indigenous land claims that are being cut without public consultation.”

— Bryan Tepper, BC Conservative MLA (Surrey-Panorama), BC Legislature 2026

DRIPA as Distraction

The DRIPA crisis this week served a dual purpose for the Eby government. On the surface, it was a political problem: an embarrassing reversal on a policy nobody could clearly explain. But it also functioned as a distraction — filling the media cycle and public attention while the government advanced Bill-9 through the legislature with minimal scrutiny.

This is a pattern. The NDP has mastered the art of burying unpopular legislation under the noise of bigger controversies. The Heritage Conservation Act revisions were introduced during the DRIPA furor. The FOI weakening was reintroduced while the DRIPA reversal dominated headlines.

The government isn’t incompetent at managing information. It’s very, very good at it — specifically at managing which information reaches the public.

What Bill-9 Would Allow Government to Do

  • Reject FOI requests deemed to “unreasonably interfere with operations” — government decides what’s unreasonable
  • Expand bureaucrats’ power to narrow, delay, and reject requests on subjective grounds
  • Shift burden of proof from government (must justify refusal) to public (must prove request is valid)
  • Add new “nuisance” clause to reject “abusive, malicious, repetitious, systematic, excessive or broad” requests — all defined by the government
  • Give administrators unilateral power over what information British Columbians are allowed to see about their own government

The Man Who Built BC’s FOI Law Is Watching It Be Dismantled

Perhaps the sharpest indictment of Bill-9 comes from the man who built the system it would replace. Rob Botterell helped create BC’s Freedom of Information Act in the 1990s under the NDP government of the era. The law earned national recognition as a model of government transparency.

The same party that championed transparency in the 1990s is now, in 2026, using its majority to reverse it. Botterell’s “freedom FROM information” line wasn’t a rhetorical flourish. It was a precise technical description of what Bill-9 does.

A government that cannot withstand scrutiny builds walls around information. A government that is governing well doesn’t need to hide its drug crisis advisors’ reports for a year. It doesn’t need to expand bureaucratic veto power over public information requests. It doesn’t need legislation that, in every clause, tilts the balance toward secrecy.

The question BC voters should be asking is simple: what is in those documents that David Eby’s government is so determined to keep you from reading?