Is it secrecy or incompetence? Is it conspiracy disguised as bureaucracy? Is it public information or private data?

We know the answer to only the last question: It's public information — taxpayers paid for it — but authorities everywhere do everything they can to keep it secret.

Look no further than the scandal this month over a hidden report into safety on Hamilton's Red Hill Valley Parkway.

In the wake of the revelation that a report on the highway's safety remained hidden for years, Spectator reporters have asked for all related reports. The response: They are "not currently public." If The Spectator wanted them, the city said, it should file official Freedom of Information requests.

Ironically, that's exactly what Spectator reporter Nicole O'Reilly did last October in a followup to her award-winning story on the highway in 2017.

And despite the fact the city was required by law to respond to her request within 30 days, it was not until this week that she finally got a reply. The documents will cost hundreds of dollars and we don't have them yet.

Four months later? Really?

And only after the safety audit scandal broke wide open?

Worse, it is not unusual, and it's not just City Hall. Hospitals, police, schools and other public institutions act similarly.

Is it simply bureaucracy run amok, laziness or something more sinister? Does the culture of secrecy persist in public institutions despite the law? Do they even care about the law? Indeed, is the law — the much-vaunted Freedom of Information Act — a failure?

Meanwhile, if it is this difficult for a reporter with the resources of a large media organization behind her, imagine how difficult (and expensive) it must be for a private citizen trying to navigate this labyrinth or afford the fees. Or perhaps authorities treat the media differently, estimating big bills (sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars) for information they should have at their fingertips, and often do, simply to discourage us or delay an article?

Every journalist has a similar story. Just last week Spectator columnist Susan Clairmont outlined a familiar saga of roadblocks in her quest to uncover the truth about a city-regulated lodging home in Hamilton.

Spectator reporter Joanna Frketich faced the same roadblocks when investigating hospital expenses. Spectator reporter Steve Buist came up against it regularly on everything from university expenses to pollution fines. Spectator City Hall reporter Matthew Van Dongen files FOI requests regularly.

In the last year alone, The Spectator has filed more than 40 freedom of information requests, a needlessly bureaucratic and time-consuming process.

In the United States, many such requests would require little more than a phone call.

Yet too often in Canada, officials have objected, remonstrated, obfuscated, complicated and generally dragged their heels before finally releasing the requested documents, which are redacted.

Many reporters get the uneasy feeling that bureaucrats use the legislation to assist them in suppressing information and releasing it only when the story has blown over.

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Don't believe civic leaders when they boast endlessly about openness and transparency. Journalists have season tickets and a front-row seat to that game. The law has no teeth, and government likes it that way.

Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator and thespec.com. You can reach him at 905-526-3482 or pberton@thespec.com