This week marks Sunshine Week an initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

And today we are asking people to celebrate Sunshine Week by being a hero and daring to ask questions demanding information from Government.

• You want to know who got a contract? ask.

• You want to know why your charitable grant was cut? ask.

• You want to know how your child's school performs compared to others? ask.

Here, also, are articles including a directive from President Barack Obama highlighting the importance of freedom of information.

For the second time, The Royal Gazette is using the week to highlight the fact that, unlike scores of other countries, Bermuda has yet to implement its own freedom of information laws, despite promises that Public Access to Information (PATI) legislation is being drafted.

Our A Right To Know Giving People Power campaign, launched in January last year, is calling on Government to quickly implement freedom of information laws.

Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public's right to know what its government is doing, and why.

Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.

It is a non-partisan initiative whose supporters are conservative, liberal and everything in between.