Access to information: The mystery surrounding public servants' credit card spending

Our journalists share their horror stories with Access to Information, to get access to information that should be public and that you have a right to know.

As part of the file on public sector expenditure, we asked ministries, crown corporations and certain cities for all credit card transactions for a given period.

Although the exercise worked well for cities, most of the ministries and state corporations we approached refused to send us data.

In some cases, they sent partial or summary data. Those responsible for access to information claim to calculate, compile or create a file to respond to our request.

However, if the organization in question does not have a database on their expenses, credit card statements can be easily accessed online from the financial institution.

These requests are necessary for access to information and to verify that elected officials or civil servants are not spending public funds at will.