B.C. Government’s Decision to Shut Public Employee Directory Sparks Transparency Debate

The B.C. government’s decision under Premier David Eby to suddenly shut down its online directory of government employees to the general public has sparked a political controversy in the province.

Opposition parties have accused the government of hiding information from the public and undermining transparency. The government, however, says the decision was made to protect employees’ safety, privacy and cybersecurity.

Through the directory, members of the public could previously find out which employees worked in different government departments, their positions and how to contact them.

Langley-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor and Steve Kooner, along with other B.C. Conservative leaders, have raised concerns about the decision. They argue that citing cybersecurity and privacy as reasons for shutting down the entire system is not justified, pointing out that other governments protect employees’ personal information without completely removing public access to their directories.

Toor said transparency is even more important at a time when the province is already facing a significant deficit.

The B.C. government directory had been in place for decades, dating back to 1930, making it a long-standing source of information about the provincial public service.