PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY. JULY 23, 1980. WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby f7- Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess,1 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by WhiI Publisher - Managing Editor tby residents for Whitby residents. Published ever Wednesda% by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-61Il The Free Press Building. 131 Brock Street North. P.(). Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Michael J. Knell CommunityEditor Marjorie A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No. 480 Member of the Whltby Chamber of Commerce At. last freedom of information is given Last week an event took place that will affect the Ilves of Canadians and will profoundly affect the way we deal with government. In the House of Commons, Secretary of State Francis Fox introduced a bill that when it receives both parliamentary and royal assent will become Canada's f irst Freedom of Information Act. While the act has many pitfalls, it is a step in the right direction. Many times it has been stated here that the most dangerous power of government Is to tax but it Is followed closely by the power to keep things, vital information or events, secret. George Bernard Shaw, one of this century's most brilliant thinkers and writers said that secracy breeds tyranny. That is a true, and even profound statement. Never in the 113 year history of this nation 'has any government even considered such an action although the right to know has been firmly established in the United States by rulings of their Supreme Court. Canadians, under the present constitution, the British North america Act, did not have any freedoms firmly established in the law and the first time Canadian had their rights written into the statute books was when the late Prime Minister John Diefenbaker wrote the Canadian Bill of Rights. The one thing that ls profoundly wrong with Fox's legislation is that It does not go far enough. Anything can become "classi,fied" at the direction of a Minister of the Crown for whatever reason. The act should give guidelines as to how the government can classify those things that they believe should be kept secret, not leave it up to the Individual minister to decide. The act, like any piece.of legislation, can be amended or repealed by future governments, it is held herethat once a bill that truly gives freedom of information is established, it should be enshrined in the constitution, making it difficult to change. In fact, during the First Ministers Conference in September, the prime minister and provincial premiers should move to make freedom of infor- mation part of the constitution along with the generally accepted human freedoms. In this day.of ever changing high technology especially in the areas of communication and in- formation retrieval systems the right to know should be as basic as the right to free speech, to practise one's religion, to gather together in peaceful assemblies, and ail the other rights that ail people deserve. Freedom of Information is essential to ail highly educated, highly technological industrial democracles and the government is to be congratulated for attempting to give the people of this nation that basic right. Freedom, liberty, and Independance are words that are not often used in Canadian politics. Canadian politicians do not tend to promote the preservation of our liberty but instead tend to say that the government should assume more and more responsibility in our society. Liberty and freedom imply that the individual citizen assumes more and more of the respon- sibility. Our governments have never placed much faith in the Canadian citizen, they have always tried to plot of the course of our lives themselves. They have neyer believed us mature and responsible enough ta decide for ourselves. Francis Fax has taken a step in the right direc- tion. He has given us the means ta re-establish our liberty by giving Canadians the right ta know, the most fundamental of ail human rights. Without the right ta know, the right of f ree speech of freedom of the press, to petitIon the government for the redress of our grievances are all meaningless. Knowledge breeds understanding and the only truly free man Is the man who understands the problems of his society and has the knowledge to deal with them. The bill presently before the House of Commons will probably not be debated before the fall session. During that time, ·t is hoped that mem- bers from all parties will take the opportunity to press for greater freedoms of access to Infor- mation to ensure that the government will not have the power to keep us in the dark. While they are examining the Freedom of Infor- mation Bill, members should also examine the Of- ficial Secrets Act and the War Measurers Act and come forward with amendments to those acts to ensure that they will not prevail against the new bill. Members now have the opportunity to encase in stone this. fundamentally important right for ail Canadians, let us ail hope that they do not throw it away. lqqm