THE CORPORATION OF THE

CITY OF WHITE ROCK

CORPORATE REPORT
DATE:

November 7, 2016

TO:

Mayor and Council

FROM:

Tracey Arthur, City Clerk

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information (FOI) and Protection of Privacy Status Report

______________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council receive for information the corporate report dated November 7, 2016 from the
City Clerk titled, Freedom of Information (FOI) and Protection of Privacy Status Report.
______________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
This corporate report gives an update to the information provided in June 2016 regarding the
Freedom of Information (FOI) function at the City.
ANALYSIS
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) establishes a process by
which any person may request access to records in the Citys care or control. The Act directs
when and how the City should facilitate such access, and provides a set of rules to be followed
when doing so. The underlying presumption of the Act is that all recorded information is
available for access by the public, subject to a specific list of exceptions. These exceptions exist
to exclude information that would harm other beneficial interests if disclosed, such as third-party
personal privacy, solicitor-client privilege, or public health and safety, for examples.
The FOI Head is responsible to assist individuals who are seeking access to City records, while
interpreting the Act and ensuring that any excepted information is properly excluded. All
municipalities in British Columbia must adhere to the rules in the Act and provide sufficient
resources to ensure that records can be made available to the public in accordance with the
legislation.

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Freedom of Information (FOI) and Protection of Privacy Status Report

Page No. 2

The chart below indicates that FOI requests have been on the rise:

FOI REQUESTS
2016 (Oct 24) = 135
2015 = 103
2014 = 63
2013 = 43

FOI REQUESTS

2012 = 52
2011 = 30
2010 = 16
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

It was noted in the June 2016 corporate report on this topic that the City was behind in
processing its FOI requests, and that a request for additional help would be brought forward in
the next budget process. At that time, the Chief Administrative Officer approved the hiring of a
temporary full-time staff person to provide additional help for the second half of 2016. This staff
person was hired and started with the City on June 27th.
Prior to the addition of the temporary staff person, the City had logged 75 FOI requests from
January 1 to June 27, 2016. Since June 27th there have been an additional 60 FOI requests
logged for a total of 135 FOI requests as of October 24, 2016.
The temporary staff person has been exclusively dedicated to the FOI function and has allowed
the City to address the additional workload associated with processing the increased volume of
FOI files. To date, of the 135 requests received, 98 files have been completed. In early fall, the
existing FOI /Committee Clerk was asked to focus on her other tasks in order to bring them up to
date. In addition to FOI duties, this staff person is responsible for coordinating five (5) select
committees, two (2) task forces, and the Citys risk management functions. This staff person
will continue to be available for FOI duties as required.

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Freedom of Information (FOI) and Protection of Privacy Status Report

Page No. 3

There are eight (8) individuals who make up a large component of FOI requests:
2015 FOI Requests

2016 FOI Requests

(until Oct 24)

Number of FOI requests

103

135

Summary of how many

requests were made by
different individuals, and
how many requests were
submitted by the same
individual

8 individuals had more than

one FOI request:
Applicant A = 7
Applicant B = 6
Applicant C = 5
Applicant D = 4
Applicant E= 3
Applicant F = 3
Applicant G = 2
Applicant H = 2

8 individuals had more than

one FOI request:
Applicant A = 19
Applicant B = 15
Applicant C = 33
Applicant D = 5
Applicant E = 23
Applicant F = 2
Applicant G = 2
Applicant H = 2

Total 32 out of 103 are repeat

applicants
= 31% repeat applicants

Total 101 out of 135 are

repeat applicants
= 75% repeat applicants

Section 43 of the Act allows the City to seek relief from the Office of the Information and
Privacy Commissioner for BC (OIPC) for having to respond to FOI requests that are deemed
systematic, repetitious, frivolous, or vexatious. It is the Citys opinion that there is one (1)
individual whose requests fall under this category. The City has filed an application with the
OIPC pursuant to section 43 that is currently being reviewed. The Citys complaints about this
individuals requests are multi-faceted. Generally however, the City is concerned about this
individuals intentional interference with City projects and mistreatment of City staff. As a
result of the Citys section 43 application; nineteen (19) open access requests have been put on
hold pending a decision.
As noted in the June corporate report, the increase in FOI requests is a trend among local
governments. The number of FOI requests that a municipality receives can be influenced by a
number of factors. Generally, the existence of significant municipal events or projects,
contentious or controversial decision-making, and a more actively engaged citizenry can lead to
an increase in the number of requests.
The top three (3) topics for FOI requests in 2016 are as follows:
Vegetation on the Hump:
May 15 Fire/Emergency Plan:
Water Utility:

21
14
13

The City is continuing to work towards having as much information as possible available to the
public through its website. An example of this is the full water quality test results being posted
as updated results are received. The City is also providing information in an Open Data Portal,
making it available to the public as machine-readable, open data which can facilitate further
transparency, accountability, and public participation.

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Freedom of Information (FOI) and Protection of Privacy Status Report

Page No. 4

In accordance with the Act, an applicant may ask the OIPC to review an FOI response by the
City. The City had very few dealings with the OIPC in this regard prior to 2015. However, as
the number of FOI requests have increased, so too have the number of OIPC reviews. Currently,
the City has ten (10) open files being reviewed by the OIPC. There are many reasons an
individual may request an OIPC review. In the Citys case, individuals have challenged whether
the City has adequately searched for responsive records, properly severed excepted information,
and/or reasonably declined to waive imposed fees. Since the temporary staff person started, the
City has concluded three (3) OIPC review files. Working through these OIPC review files
imposes further obligations on FOI staff's time as they make submissions, forward records, and
address questions.
CONCLUSION
Receipt of FOI requests has been on a steady increase and significant staff time is required to
dedicate to this legislated task. As part of the current budget process, the expected plan is to
extend the contract of the current temporary full-time staff person to continue to fulfill the FOI
tasks of the City until at least March 2019. The FOI work will be the main focus of the
individual along with facilitating the Citys many property management tasks including
negotiation of leases and overseeing property matters.
Respectfully submitted,

Tracey Arthur
City Clerk
Comments from the Chief Administrative Officer:
I concur with the recommendation of this corporate report.

Dan Bottrill
Chief Administrative Officer

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