The lack of freedom of information in Canada is just one of many topics that will be discussed at the Canadian Association of Journalists annual convention. (Graphic by Canadian Association of Journalists)

When journalists complain about Canada’s freedom of information system, we often fault its costs, the currency of the responses we receive, as well as their completeness.

After all, it’s not uncommon to be asked to pay hundreds of dollars to process a request, wait months for a response and receive pages and pages of blanked out records. But these are mere symptoms of the disease plaguing Canada’s freedom of information system — a disease whose causes can be traced to the political and social culture of this country.

I’ll be speaking more about that issue tomorrow afternoon with former Vancouver Sun managing editor Kirk LaPointe at the Canadian Association of Journalists annual convention, which gets underway today in Vancouver. You can tune in here on Saturday at 3:15 to follow the live blog of that workshop.

In addition, I’ll be hosting J-Fest on Friday evening at 7:00. It’s a celebration of the some of the best reporting in British Columbia, with Times Colonist’s Lindsay Kines, former Province editorial cartoonist Dan Murphy and Fractured Land filmmaker Damien Gillis giving the stories behind the stories they covered or opined on. Tickets to the event, which takes place at the Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown, are $5 at the door.