It has now been a month since the sudden deaths of Eden Mills residents Susanne and Trevor McNally.
Those of us still waiting to hear official word of what happened at the couple’s home on Nov. 20 shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for any clues.
Despite obvious public interest in the high profile case, the OPP has stonewalled attempts by the media to explain what happened, announcing police will not be releasing any more details about the deaths in order not to “re-victimize” the families.
Assuming that is the true reason for the suppression of information, it is a noble goal – after all, no one wants to belabour an already traumatic experience for the family – but it’s also a total violation of the expectation that police will keep the public apprised of major criminal investigations.
Not following through with updates on a death investigation not only looks bad on the OPP, it is a major disservice to any victim(s) and a serious impediment to the public’s right to know. Whether this is an isolated incident or indicative of a move towards a more secretive policy, the OPP is not alone.
Recently the RCMP has gone as far as not identifying the names of victims of crimes, accidents and car crashes. The move, widely criticized by privacy experts, journalists and victims’ advocacy groups, is part of a growing trend towards secrecy by those trusted to keep the public informed.
For federal, provincial and, most recently, municipal governments, the prime focus has shifted from providing information to vetting, filtering and spinning it.
Right here in Wellington, more than one municipality has moved towards trying to filter public information through one person, as opposed to having all staff available to comment on their areas of expertise.
Of course, the decision itself often contains as much spin as the subsequent few tidbits of carefully selected information the municipalities will release, including talk of making things easier for staff, the public and the press, when in fact it’s an obvious attempt to reduce public scrutiny.
Also not a coincidence, we believe, is the move by municipalities to host more meetings during the daytime, when fewer people can attend.
In this day and age, public institutions should be embracing the tools available to them to make information more readily available to the public.
Yet in many cases the exact opposite has become the norm.
