WCB gets top marks for information
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2011 (5504 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THEY say that nobody is perfect, but the folks at the Workers Compensation Board might beg to differ.
On the other hand, the Manitoba Department of Innovation, Energy and Mines (IEM) might take to heart the expression that practice makes perfect.
On Monday, Manitoba’s Ombudsman gave the WCB top marks — a 100 per cent score — for the way it handles freedom of information (FIPPA) requests.
“They do an exemplary job,” Irene Hamilton said following the release of her report, which examined the timeliness and adequacy of responses to requests for information from five public bodies.
Bringing up the rear in Hamilton’s study was Innovation, Energy and Mines, which managed an overall score of 36 per cent in its handling of FIPPA requests.
Hamilton said the recently completed audit is the first of several her office will undertake in the coming years to improve the compliance of public agencies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Her office will select five more entities for investigation this year.
Despite the wide variance in scores, Hamilton said in her report that she generally observed a “positive and genuine effort” by all five institutions to help applicants — even as she tagged weaknesses in certain areas. She said her investigation found no instances where the five public bodies flagrantly ignored the act.
Also included in the audit were the University of Manitoba, the Manitoba Justice Department and Manitoba Hydro.
Pressed in an interview, Hamilton wouldn’t go as far as to say that the two organizations which scored below 50 per cent — Innovation, Energy and Mines and Manitoba Hydro — had failed the audit. “I don’t think it’s a fail in the sense that the work is failing work. I think what it indicates is that there is room for improvement and there needs to be improvement made.”
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
How they rate
Workers Compensation Board: 100%*
Manitoba Justice Department: 72%
University of Manitoba: 59%
Manitoba Hydro: 41%
Manitoba Innovation, Energy and Mines: 36% * Overall performance in dealing with access to information requests, according to an audit by the Manitoba Ombudsman