WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government has been taking longer to respond to freedom of information requests and collecting more money from people filing them, newly released figures show.

Government departments and agencies fulfilled more than 1,200 freedom of information requests in the fiscal year that ended in March, said the government’s annual report on its freedom of information law, released last week.

A little more than half — 55 per cent — were completed within the normal 45-day period required by law, or after more time under an allowable extension in cases involving a large volume of records or where other governments or people must be consulted.

That on-time completion rate was down from 69 per cent the previous year and 70 per cent the year before.

People seeking information p

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