What’s stopping a government from ignoring your freedom of information request for all eternity?The law, and the province’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) — though you’ll have to prod it into action yourself.
A provincial statute, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, requires municipal governments to respond to requests for documents within 30 days unless more time is needed to locate them.
If a government misses the deadline, your only recourse is to file an appeal with the IPC. It has the power to force the government to make a quick decision.
“We’re quite successful with our expedited process in getting action out of institutions. Normally, it doesn’t come down to us having to issue an order,” said assistant IPC commissioner Brian Beamish.
Most requests to Toronto’s government are fulfilled quickly. In 2010, according to the IPC’s annual report, Toronto complied with the standard 30-day limit 83 per cent of the time.
The city’s typical punctuality is partly why a recent decision of Mayor Rob Ford’s staff is unusual.
When the Star requested Ford’s itineraries, his staff obtained a 20-day deadline extension on the grounds that they needed to conduct a lengthy search. They missed even the extended 50-day deadline, which was Wednesday.
Ford faced criticism on Thursday for another decision related to freedom of information. The Globe and Mail reported that his office destroyed documents related to his purchase of business cards from the company his family owns.
His office, the Globe reported, had deemed the records “transitory.” The city’s rules on records, however, say that transitory records are those “of insignificant or no value in documenting city business transactions” and “not related to city business.”
Original Article
Source: Star
No comments:
Post a Comment