Recent changes by the City of Burnaby on how residents can get items like accident reports from the fire department have come under scrutiny by a freedom of information watchdog.
In December, city hall made changes to the procedure for releasing fire department documents so that they would be available for an administrative fee, and in doing so, taking the process out of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) realm.
But the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is now looking at the changes and whether Burnaby had the legal authority to do so.
Vincent Gogolek, FIPA’s executive director, suggested the information from the fire department is under B.C.’s FOI laws and the city can’t suddenly declare them not subject to the act.
“You’re a public body, you’re accountable to the public,” he told the NOW, adding the city doesn’t get to unilaterally amend the act or its fee schedule. “You can’t just say suddenly, ‘We’re sailing off and we’re not subject to this.’ No, you’re subject to the act until the act is changed.”
Under the changes, the cost to get a copy of a fire investigation report is $200, a motor vehicle incident or medical incident report is $100 and a copy of any other report is $150.
Gogolek, who’s not aware of any other fire departments doing the same as Burnaby, said his organization is considering filing a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
He said he hopes the city will reconsider the changes.
“It’s certainly not good in terms of transparency,” Gogolek said. “We’re in an age where people want to know what’s going on and they expect to have access to information.”
However, Burnaby officials contend the city has nothing to hide and the municipality is on firm legal ground with the changes.
City manager Lambert Chu explained the changes were made to streamline the process for people asking for reports related to things like car accidents and medical situations, and for the city to recover the cost of providing the information.
He noted in 2016, the fire department received 200 requests for reports, mostly from insurance companies and law firms.
Under the former process, the requests would have to go through the city clerk’s office first, then to the fire department, which would gather the information, and back to the clerk’s office before being handed over to the public.
“The original intent of changing the service bylaw is to actually eliminate levels of bureaucracy or even red tape and to allow people to have quicker and wider access to information kept by the fire department,” Chu said, pointing out the provision under the FOIPPA act would still allow the city to charge a fee for the reports.
The city manager also said the municipality’s solicitor has reviewed the process, and Chu welcomes any organization like FIPA to have a discussion with the city.
But if the city is receiving so many requests, FIPA’s executive director has some advice for the city: Post the information on its website free of charge.
“Do yourself, the public and the requesters a favour and just put the stuff up there,” Gogolek said.
