By John Barritt, JP, MP, United Bermuda Party House Leader and Shadow Minister for Legislative Reform.

For anyone trying to understand what all the fuss about Freedom of Information is, they should ask themselves one question: Would you prefer to know or to not know about things that can affect your life?

We believe virtually everyone would say they want to know because the need to know is a driving, undeniable force in all our lives. It's why we pick up a newspaper each day, or turn on the radio. It's why we ask questions of our families and friends and colleagues.

We're curious and for good reason: the more we know about what's going on around us, the more we give ourselves the chance to deal successfully with the challenges, big and small, that rise up to confront us. At its core, the need to know is about safety — for oneself, for one's family, for one's community.

The freedom of information campaign underway in Bermuda today is about extending people's need to know to the realm of government. It's about giving the average citizen — that's you — the means to find out about government actions and decisions. It's about injecting a level of public scrutiny into the system that can exert a restraining influence on decisions that otherwise might be unjust or harmful.

That this campaign is taking shape at this point in our history is a perfectly natural step in our ongoing evolution toward more open, democratic government.

Bermudians have often been left in the dark about government activities and decisions because they do not have the means to find out more about them. What they learn about their government is largely determined by what the government decides they should hear.

By requiring government to answer citizen queries we are, in effect, taking away its power to ignore, particularly the power to ignore individual complaints, grievances and frustrations.

Freedom of information measures can be used by citizens to learn why a planning application was rejected or how a contract was awarded. They can be used to turn back unfair decisions or to find out how the government is spending your money. At the political level, freedom of information can be used to open up committee meetings now closed to the public. It can even lead to a fixed period in Parliamentary sittings for direct questioning of ministers on issues of the day.

By giving citizens the power to better scrutinise government we can take a huge step toward a healthier balance between the individual and government — a balance that has always tilted massively in government's favour, not just in Bermuda but throughout the world.

The United Bermuda Party is not a recent convert to freedom of information.

We first campaigned for it in 2003 and again in 2007. Our thinking was influenced by our years in government and by our years in opposition, and some wisdom has been learned in the sequence of that experience.

One incident that stands out in the shaping of our thinking occurred when the United Bermuda Party was in power. We were severely criticised by the Auditor General and then Opposition PLP for a decision taken behind closed doors to allow a contractor facing bankruptcy to finish building the Westgate prison instead of putting the contract back out to tender. The rationale at the time was that it would be cheaper and less time-consuming to stick with the contractor. The rationale stood up under subsequent scrutiny but in hindsight we should have taken the public into our confidence instead of keeping them in the dark.

The lesson that came clear is that there is little value in holding back information. The more you open up the process to the public the greater the chance for understanding and buy-in.

It's important to understand that the move for freedom of information is not about UBP versus PLP. The fact that former Premier Alex Scott also joins in the push for freedom of information speaks to the non-partisan appeal of the issue. It is why we tabled a motion in the Senate last week calling for the creation of a joint select (bipartisan) committee to oversee the introduction and implementation of public access to information legislation.

Freedom of information can change the way this country operates by ensuring standards of conduct that are subject to public scrutiny, which can only lead to greater accountability and transparency from those who are elected to serve the people.

Do what you can to support Freedom of Information. Speak to your Member of Parliament. Talk to your friends and colleagues. It's in your best interest. You have a right to know about things that can affect your life.