Privacy commish hopes ‘things will improve’
SASKATOON Saskatchewan’s Information and Privacy Commissioner says he is “fine” with a possible legislative change letting local governments request a 30-day extension to reply to information requests.
Privacy commissioner Ron Kruzeniski recommended the province launch an inquiry into the Northern Village of Pinehouse in 2018, after he penned a 13th report on the village government’s failures to respond to information requests from the public. He found some requests weren’t responded to at all, while others were answered outside the 30-day window currently mandated by the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Privacy (LAFOIP) Act.
The inquiry report written for the Ministry of Government Relations by retired judge William Vancise was released Wednesday. Vancise found Pinehouse officials violated LAFOIP, but attributed this to their workloads coupled with an incomplete understanding of their responsibilities under the law.
Vancise’s report also recommended the province amend LAFOIP to give the privacy commissioner discretion to grant extensions to local authorities beyond the current 30-day deadline.
“I am fine with the recommendation that Justice Vancise proposed in his report. I can see situations where an extension can be justified,” Kruzeniski said.
He said his office would take a “serious look” at requests made by local governments if they have a reasonable explanation for their difficulties. This could include turnover of administrators or a change of mayor.
Government Relations Minister Lori Carr told Postmedia News on Wednesday that the province is considering Vancise’s recommendation.
Kruzeniski’s office currently has three open files relating to Pinehouse.
“The saying (is) the proof is in the pudding. I do have the expectation that things will improve in these three files that we now have,” he said.
D’arcy Hande, a member of the working group behind many of the information requests that led to the Pinehouse inquiry, said he was disappointed in Vancise’s findings.
In the report, Vancise wrote the working group’s actions amounted to a “concerted effort to ‘blitz’” Pinehouse with information requests and “overwhelm a small northern community’s administration." Hande said he takes exception to the report’s conclusions about the group’s motivations.
He said he felt Vancise was insinuating people from outside the Pinehouse community were being meddlesome.