Pinehouse report complete and under review by province
Independent inspection ordered after village slow to react to FOI requests
A report from an independent inspector commissioned by the Saskatchewan government into the Northern Village of Pinehouse is now under review by the Ministry of Government Relations.
A ministry official confirmed late Thursday it had received the report by lawyer Neil Robertson, who was commissioned to look into the village’s delayed responses to public requests for information under the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The inspection was ordered in December following a recommendation made by the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski in a November report, the 13th report his office has written in the last several years relating to delayed or unfulfilled responses to requests made to Pinehouse.
“Officials from the Ministries of Government Relations and Justice will closely review Mr. Robertson’s report and recommendations and determine a course of action,” the government said in a statement sent to the StarPhoenix.
The statement goes on to say that Minster of Government Relations Warren Kaeding will announce what those next steps are after the report is reviewed and at that time, the report and recommendations will be made public.
The inspection was aimed not only at uncovering why the responses were delayed or not forthcoming, but also at the village’s business activities, operations and its financial situation.
Still, the village’s mayor, Mike Natomagan, told the StarPhoenix in January he does not plan to change how Pinehouse responds to requests for information.
“To be quite honest, living in (one of the poorest regions of Canada), do we care about freedom of information? Not really. Are we going to get another slap on the hand here? Probably … We’ll get to it when we get to it, when we have time, because there are other priorities within our community,” Natomagan said to the StarPhoenix in January.
We’ll get to it when we get to it, when we have time, because there are other priorities
... We’ll continue with what we’re doing and how we’re doing things.
“We’ll continue with what we’re doing and how we’re doing things.”
His response received stern responses from both the government and the privacy commissioner.
Natomagan is blaming shortfalls in capacity for the delayed or failed responses from the village.
The request that triggered the privacy commissioner’s recommendation that an inspection take place asked for salary disclosures for Natomagan, village administrator Martine Smith and Coun. Conrad Misponas.