Who’s the FOI requester?

That is, who’s been filing hundreds and hundreds of what are accurately called access-to-information requests with the CBC, made possible under the curiously-named Accountability Act?

Simple: It’s retired colonel Michel Drapeau of Barrick Poulsen. Apparently.

David Akin of the Asper empire acts as though Drapeau cannot be named due to “privacy.” But the CBC is not the only possible source of the name. Once the requester’s identity is reported, it can be reported again, assuming it’s truthful. The best part of that article? It quotes Drapeau generically on how access-to-information laws work. (Ask him the damned question, Akin!)

Canoe (actually Canoë) reported that Drapeau filed over 800 requests and included four direct quotes from Drapeau. Maffin reported it.

Even if naming Drapeau as the serial requester were pure unverified speculation, which it isn’t, it wouldn’t be defamatory, as Drapeau is the author of many articles and publications about access to information and it hardly damages his reputation to speculate that he uses the legislation he writes about.

So why does a CBC private-sector competitor act as though Drapeau’s identity is a state secret?

I contacted Drapeau via his listed E-mail address and asked him to confirm his status as the filer of hundreds of CBC information requests. He did not respond.

I’ve filed exactly one information request, by the way, and I got everything I asked for.

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