Wednesday, May 23, 2012

B.C. law requires animal disease outbreak reports be kept secret under threat of massive fines

We've all seen this TV scenario: Investigators are racing to track down the source of a deadly virus, or maybe a terrorist nuclear device, threatening a big city.
But they're keeping the publicity lid on because they don't want people to panic.
Well, a move by the B.C. government feels a little like that.
Freedom of information advocates are criticizing provisions of the province's new Animal Health Act which forbids anyone, including journalists, from reporting an animal disease outbreak.
The Vancouver Province reported the law requires anyone — a journalist, say, or a farm or lab employee — who learns about an outbreak must keep the details secret or face "administrative penalties," bureaucratise for fines, of up to $75,000.
According to the Province, a section of the law states: "A person must refuse, despite the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, to disclose . . . information that would reveal that a notifiable or reportable disease is or may be present in a specific place or on or in a specific vehicle."
The B.C. Agriculture Ministry's news release on the proposed
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/b-c-law-requires-animal-disease-outbreak-reports-191138775.html

1 comment:

Duff Smith said...

Citizens should take charge of their own food security any way they can. Difficult to do under socialist-styled governments. They tend to prohibit that sort of thing to keep the populace at their mercy.