Mayor Gregor Robertson has come to the defence of city hall’s access to information practices in response to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s probe into why Vancouver continues to register complaints about how it keeps and disseminates its records.
In a written statement emailed to the Courier Tuesday, Robertson – who is in China on a business trip – said the city has “clear and consistent” protocols related to documentation, records and freedom of information laws.
“The city’s staff team and leadership take these issues very seriously,” the mayor said. “In addition to meeting the bar set by legislation, Vancouver has extensive mechanisms in place to back up and preserve email records and documentation that go far beyond those at the provincial level and at many other local governments.”
The commissioner’s office, which is headed by Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, announced Tuesday that it will review Vancouver’s method of handling requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Cara McGregor, communications director for the commissioner’s office, said the review is being done under “a proactive program” set up last year by the commissioner’s office.
“It’s a broader, more in-depth type of a report,” she said of the program designed to assess the extent to which public bodies and private sector organizations comply with access to information and privacy laws.
She noted two similar reviews were completed under the program, including an examination of the privacy breach management practices of B.C. Health Authorities (September 2015) and the B.C. government (January 2015).
The commissioner’s office explained in a news release why Vancouver is being targeted for investigation.
“The City of Vancouver is the biggest municipality in British Columbia and therefore receives a large volume of access to information requests,” the release said. “[The commissioner’s office’s] annual reports confirm that, in four of the last five years, the City of Vancouver ranked among public bodies with the highest number of complaints and access to information appeals received by this office.”
The City of Vancouver said in a statement it was notified Nov. 2 that Denham’s office “selected [the city] to undergo a compliance review” related to the city’s compliance with access provisions under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
“The compliance review will begin with key staff interviews in late November to determine the project plan, identify the scope and estimate the timelines for the compliance review,” said the statement, noting the assessment is expected to begin in early 2016. “The city has a robust and fully documented access to information process in place. Nevertheless, we welcome the opportunity to participate in the [commissioner office’s] review as we continue to look for ways to further improve our internal processes.”
The statement added the city receives between 350 to 400 FOI requests per year. This year, the city hired an additional FOI case manager “to improve our ability to track and respond to FOI requests in a timely manner.”
Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr said Tuesday she learned about the privacy commissioner’s investigation through media reports and hasn’t been informed by city staff about the scope of the investigation.
Carr said she receives regular complaints from the public about the city’s handling of information requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The complaints are specifically about the delays in getting a response from the city and the amount of redacted pages provided to the person who requested information.
“The public really wants to see much more openness and transparency,” said Carr, noting the mayor made a promise in his re-election bid to make city hall more accessible to people searching for information. “Last term, the access to staff by media, by the public and even councillors was limited. I was told as a councillor to not call a staff person up for information – that I had to go through a general manager.”
NPA Coun. George Affleck’s action in the last term to have senior staff justify its restrictive media policy led to a series of memos then-city manager Penny Ballem shared with councillors, but not the public.
In one of the memos, it was noted the city received 377 requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Courier made a request under the Act in April 2014 for information related to housing and received a response five months later. That response came in 68 pages, 48 of which were totally or partially redacted.
Affleck said he learned of the privacy commissioner’s probe via an internal email from staff. He said he wasn’t surprised the commissioner’s office is casting an eye on city hall’s access to information practices.
“I have challenged for four years on access to information and on how they communicate with the people of this city, so to me [the investigation] was not a surprise,” he said.
The privacy commissioner’s office promised a final report, which is expected to include recommendations to improve privacy and access practices, will be released for the public to read when completed.
mhowell@vancourier.com
@Howellings
