But that’s exactly what’s happening in Saskatchewan because governments can ignore the watchdog meant to keep them honest

Imagine how the highway would look if drivers could treat speeding tickets as a suggestion.

That’s how the Saskatchewan government treat its Information and Privacy Commissioner. And it’s hurting Saskatchewanians’ ability to find out how the government is spending their money.

Saskatchewanians are supposed to be able to ask their government for documents, and it is supposed to hand them over by law.

Any Saskatchewanian can demand these documents by making a freedom of information request. And requests like this are how the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found out that the city of Saskatoon spent $26,000 on an AI-powered garbage can that got the right answer less than 40 per cent of the time. Or that it spent more than $100,000 beautifying downtown back alleys, all while hiking property taxes.

The government is supposed to work on these freedom of information requests right away. It even has a duty to assist you in your search.

If you run into a dispute with the government, like delays or refusal to hand over documents, the Information and Privacy Commissioner is the official who is supposed to be there to help you.

It’s an office that’s independent from the government and makes objective rulings on the law regarding information requests. The commissioner investigates disputes over access to government records and decides whether governments have followed the law.

The problem is that these rulings aren’t legally binding in Saskatchewan. They are only recommendations. That means governments can ignore them unless someone is willing to take the matter to court.

And because they aren’t binding, the government can treat them the way most of us treat our doctors’ advice to eat healthier and work out more. Which is to say, we nod along and then do nothing.

If the government chooses to ignore the commissioner, the person requesting the documents is either out of luck or must spend potentially tens of thousands of dollars and years of their life taking the government to court.

For most Saskatchewanians, this is impossible, no matter how important the information may be.

Fifteen per cent of the commissioner’s recommendations were entirely ignored by the government last year, according to the annual report. A further seven per cent only had partial compliance.

Last year, less than 40 per cent of recommendations were fully complied with by the government.

Now, 15 per cent isn’t a majority of cases, but what kind of information is being hidden when the government completely refuses to listen to the commissioner?

When the new commissioner started her job, she said that she wants to be able to make legally binding orders, not just recommendations. The previous commissioner asked for the same ability.

This ability isn’t an innovation that will break the system. Five other provinces and the federal government have given their information commissioners this power for decades. Saskatchewan doesn’t need to invent something new.

And it’s not just a nice-to-have either. This freedom to access government documents is so important that the Supreme Court called it “quasi-constitutional.”

After all, you can’t use your freedom of expression very well if you don’t know what’s happening and can’t find out.

And things are happening across the province that taxpayers need to know about.

That’s because it’s not just Saskatoon where freedom of information requests are uncovering big waste. The Regina Public Library spends about $35,000 a year to fund already successful writers to spend most of their time working on their own books.

Freedom of information records also revealed that the Queen City had no records of how much it was spending on gift cards.

Under the current system, accessing government records is only possible when the government feels like listening to the commissioner’s recommendation. If it doesn’t, the burden is on individual taxpayers to take the government to court.

If the Information and Privacy Commissioner had the power to make binding orders, taxpayers would have another much-needed protection to keep government accountable.

It’s time to make this simple and effective change. The government shouldn’t be allowed to ignore Saskatchewanians’ right to know how the government is spending their money.

Gage Haubrich, Prairie Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, is a fierce critic of government overspending and a champion for Prairie taxpayers.