Ottawa Deputy Bureau Chief Dean Beeby of the Canadian Press discusses the weakening of freedom of information policy. Beeby offers journalists and activists some advice: “Don’t file one request, file 20 requests because it’s going to take that many to get a story. Myself, I’m experienced in using it. I have to probably file ten requests to get a story. That’s how the system has broken down…. Be a pitbull about it! Insist on your rights. Don’t give up because that’s exactly what a government wants. They want you to give up and go away. So, perseverance counts a lot.”

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) presented a discussion about the state of access to information in Canada on May 10, 2011, sponsored by NOW Magazine. CBC Radio One’s The Current’s Anna Maria Tremonti hosted, with expert panellists Ottawa Deputy Bureau Chief Dean Beeby of the Canadian Press, former Information Commissioner John Reid and investigative journalist with CTV’s W5, Paula Todd. CJFE interviewed all three panellists before the event.