There are numerous ethical questions surrounding recently publicized attempts by a staffer of the Minister of Natural Resources, Christian Paradis, to block access to information requests from releasing the information requested. 

Under the  Access to Information Act, Canadians are free to either write a letter to the ministry in charge of the information they are looking for, as long as they mention the Access to Information Act specifically, or fill out a handy online form that you can then print off and mail to the proper ministry.  Don't forget to send a money order or cheque for $5 payable to the Receiver General of Canada.

I can't stress enough how important it is for government to be accountable, as well as the importance of transparency in the post financial collapse world.  So, in the quest to find out how things actually work with government in general, I decided to send in my own access to information request on a very controversial topic.  I mailed in a request today to Health Canada looking for copies of the emails sent and received by the Minister Health and bureaucrat Ronald Denault and his staff in the Marihuana Medical Access Division of Health Canada from January 2009 to the present day.

The reason?  I'm curious to see what, if any, information requested on such a controversial topic will be honoured under the rules of the Access to Information Act. 

I have no idea how long the request will take, or if it will get lost in the mail so to speak, but I think it will be interesting to see what happens.  If anyone is interested in sending in their own request about whatever you feel like, click here for detailed instructions and the forms to (hopefully) get what you want.