Let us put on our imagination hats.
It will be fun, and if you are not aware of how CBRM has responded to requests for information under the Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, enlightening.
The following story is rooted in a real-life report written by Carmen Stuart, a review officer for Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, in 2014. You can read it here.
Once upon a time, a curious citizen named Not Nosey Parker wanted to read the detailed financial reports that the government of the land weirdly named CBRM was keeping from the public. “Surely, any citizen should be able to see how our government spends its money", Ms. Parker thought to herself as she dropped off her request for information at her neighborhood post office.
And lo and behold, the government told Ms. Parker that they could provide the information she requested without a formal FOIPOP request. They were busy, but would get to her request as soon as they could. How wide the smile that crept across Ms. Parker’s face was.
And 294 days later, yes, 294 days, CBRM told Ms. Parker that they would need an official FOIPOP request after all. Oh, and there would be a fee as it would take 23 hours to gather the records – 760.00 Canadian dollars. Ms. Parker did not smile when she heard this news.
“I cannot afford to pay 760.00 dollars,” Ms. Parker told CBRM, “and I am going to share this information with a tax group, so it will benefit the public.”
But CBRM said that they had a strange “blanket" policy that said they would never, ever waive fees for gathering information. Ever.
Ms. Parker asked the Nova Scotia FOIPOP office to help her deal with her local government.
And so it was that a report was written.
The report revealed that the information that N.N. Parker has asked for should be readily available to the public. N.N. Parker should never have had to request it the first place. (N.N. Parker smile began to return when she read that part of the report.)
And there was no way that gathering this information would take 23 hours. Even the CBRM could not explain how this could be. It was unfair and unreasonable for CBRM to try to shake down N.N Parker in this way.
And the report told CBRM that if it took them so long to find their own files that maybe they should have an old-fashioned clean-up.
And nobody lived happily ever after.
Our Council will next meet on January 19, 2021. Mary Campbell of The Spectator made an important FOIPOP request and the plot of her story is not dissimilar to the one above. It is my hope, and I know that there are new councillors and a new mayor who seem to be into transparency, that Council will vote to follow the recommendations of the report in this case and release all information requested.
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