TORONTO, April 17 /CNW/ - Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner
has ruled that Toronto's City Clerk was wrong to permanently cut off access to
the FOI system for anti-billboard activists.
"I have not been able to file a Freedom of Information inquiry for 16
months," says Rami Tabello, coordinator of IllegalSigns.ca, a grassroots group
that fights illegal billboards. "This decision entirely restores my rights to
research the legality of signs."
The City Clerk argued on appeal that her decision to permanently suspend
access to the FOI system for IllegalSigns.ca should be upheld because
IllegalSigns.ca portrays city staff in a negative light and because
IllegalSigns.ca used the FOI process to advocate for a new signs by-law. "The
Clerk's reasoning is unfair, undemocratic and contrary to the principles of
open government," says Mr. Tabello. "This ruling means that a government
cannot withhold information because it fears that the information may be used
to shame it into action."
The City Clerk's determination that IllegalSigns.ca's FOI requests for
110 billboard permits were "frivolous and vexatious" was belied last week at
the Licensing and Standards Committee, which received a Staff Report
concerning IllegalSigns.ca's FOI-driven complaints. The report indicates that
the City has initiated prosecutions against 101 illegal billboards and has
revoked 84 invalid billboard permits.
A section of IllegalSigns.ca called 'Audits of By-Law Enforcement' came
under fire from the Clerk's Department, which printed out copies of web
postings and submitted them as evidence to the IPC that the web site portrayed
enforcement staff in a negative light. "The City processed over 500 of our
FOIs for billboard records. It was only after our web site launched that they
refused to process any more," says Mr. Tabello.
The attachment to this release contains highlights of the April 10
decision, which is available on IllegalSigns.ca this morning.Highlights of the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Decision:
- "... to find that a request is "for a purpose other than to obtain
access" and thus "frivolous or vexatious" on the basis that the
requester may use the information to oppose actions taken by an
institution would be completely contrary to the spirit of the Act,
which exists in part as an accountability mechanism in relation to
government organizations." Page 17. Para. 2.
- "The City submits that it believes that the appellant is filing the
requests for the purpose of obtaining a policy change with respect to
the City's sign by-laws and enforcement procedures for illegal
billboards. " Page 9, Para, 4.
- "The City's submissions appear to suggest that it believes the
appellant is submitting a large number of complicated requests for the
purpose of gathering information to portray the City in a negative
light on his web site." Page 14, Para. 4.
- "Contrary to the City's suggestions, I find that the appellant's
behaviour supports his position that he seeks access to the
information he requests for reasonable and legitimate grounds;
specifically, to review the legality of billboards posted around the
City. The fact that he subsequently used the information to file
complaints about illegal billboards or to support his view that
signage by-laws and enforcement procedures should be revised, does not
alter the fact that his purpose for filing he requests is to gain
access to the requested information." Page 10, Para. 4
- "In my view... the requests made by the appellant were made for a
genuine purpose. The appellant is involved in an organization that
investigates whether certain billboards posted in the City are
illegal. Only by examining City records obtained through access to
information procedures can the appellant determine whether or not a
billboard is illegal and, if so, subsequently file a legitimate
complaint. I cannot agree that the appellant's reasons for seeking
access to the information he requests or the uses to which he puts
that information once he receives it are either illegitimate or
dishonest, however disadvantageous they may appear to the City. "
Page 16, Para. 2.
- "I do not accept that, based on the type of information sought, it is
a particularly onerous or complicated task for the City to locate the
responsive records." Page 13, Para 6
For further information: Media Contact: Rami Tabello, Coordinator,
IllegalSigns.ca, E-Mail: info @ illegalsigns.ca, Phone: (416) 822-3696, 359
Palmerston Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario, M6G 2N5
