July 8, 2016
Province Proactively Releases Ministerial Transition Information
Manitoba’s new government today released 1,740 pages of information prepared for the government’s new ministers upon their appointment, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson announced today.
“Our government believes the tone demonstrated within the senior levels of any organization is reflected throughout the entire organization,” said Stefanson. “We intend to lead by example and to establish a culture within our government that is truly open, accountable and accessible. That is why we are releasing this information to all Manitobans.”
The minister noted the proactive public release of this information is another step in the provincial government’s pursuit of an open government initiative and marks a departure from more reactive, complaint-based procedures under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. She indicated access to information will be further strengthened through the creation of a proactive disclosure system for a variety of types of information and documents that are currently only available through freedom of information application processes.
“Our government believes Manitobans deserve timely access to information,” said Stefanson. “Movement toward proactive disclosure of government information benefits all Manitobans. This is just a first step toward that goal.”
Manitoba’s new government has previously released ministerial mandate letters and framework letters for Crown corporations on a proactive basis and has committed to creating an open data policy to provide government collected data more readily to the public.
The documents are available online at www.gov.mb.ca/government/proactive_disclosure.html.
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