Celebrating International Right to Know Week
September 26-September 30, 2011
The purpose of Right to Know (RTK) Week is to raise awareness about people’s right to access government information while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance.
In 2011, the Canadian RTK Week will take place from September 26 to September 30. This year marks the sixth year that Canadians have celebrated RTK Week, and there are a great number of events planned coast to coast.
Internationally, RTK Day began on September 28, 2002, in Sofia, Bulgaria at an international meeting of access to information advocates who proposed that a day be dedicated to the promotion of freedom of information worldwide. It is now celebrated globally and continues to grow and expand each year, both internationally and within Canada, with more participants and new exciting events being added.
This description and more information about International Right to Know Week can be found on http://www.righttoknow.ca/
Now accepting Memberships and donations of support online.
The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia is now accepting online payment and member registration. Click here to join.
The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia: Advocating, Educating, and Mobilizing the Citizens of Nova Scotia to Exercise Their Rights to Information
The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia (RTKNS) is a non-profit organization. Through advocacy and education, RTKNS encourages the use and development of freedom-of-information legislation to foster a better informed and more politically active electorate in Nova Scotia and to improve the quality of public and private decision making in the province.
Your FOI experience:
Have you ever filed a FOI request? What has been your experience? Has the information you sought been forthcoming, or did you find the bureaucracy working against you? How do you think the Act can further be strengthened, so that it serves its purpose better?
RECENT NEWS:
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING / TELECONFERENCE
Date / time: Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
Location (in-person participation): Suite 1800, 1801 Hollis Street, Halifax
Call in instructions (telephone participation): TBA
Agenda:
1. Annual report of the President (Darce Fardy)
2. Annual financial report of the Treasurer (Indranil Dutta)
3. Other annual reports (communications and government relations (Donna McCready), membership (Joanna))
4. Election of Directors for 2011-12
5. Towards establishing a FOI Fees Fund (Charles Cirtwill)
6. Fundraising
7. International developments (Toby Mendel)
8. Other business
NOTICE OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING / TELECONFERENCE
Date / time: Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
Location (in-person participation): Suite 1800, 1801 Hollis Street, Halifax
Call in instructions (telephone participation): TBA
Agenda:
1. Appointment of officers for 2011-12
2. Whether to adopt a policy of asking active members to make a standard annual cash donation to RTK (pursuant to By-law 2).
3. Other business
DOCUMENTS OF INTEREST:
- Minutes from the 2010 RTKCNS Annual General Meeting
- Know How They Vote (NS Legislature)
- Music to Accompany Right to Know Week
- All articles on the lowering of the Nova Scotia Freedom of Information fee (August, 2009)
- Province lowers Freedom of Information fee – DoJ Press Release (August 14, 2009)
- NS Supreme Court Says Development Authorities Are Public Bodies Subject to FOI
- Darce Fardy on the Carter Center: America’s Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information (April 28-30, 2009)
Mission
To encourage the use and development of freedom-of-information legislation to foster a better informed and more politically active electorate in Nova Scotia and to improve the quality of public and private decision making in the province.
No other organization in Nova Scotia has a similar mission.
Strategy
To pursue its mission through two means – education and advocacy:
Education will be done through speaking engagements, media interviews, conferences and this website
Advocacy will include assisting individuals and groups to pursue Freedom of Information applications; and law reform recommendations
Financial Plan
To operate primarily on a cost-recovery basis
To keep operating costs as low as possible
To approach events and its organizational development on a project-by-project basis
To seek within its membership a person or company willing to assist free of charge for each project
There is no fee to become a member of RTKNS; however, members or others whom RTKNS assists with FOI applications will be asked to make a voluntary donation of $10.
