Press Release from David Bratzer: Request for Review filed against Esquimalt with OIPC regarding police documents

This was sent out yesterday by David Bratzer.  He was less than happy with results of his last Freedom of Information Request

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REQUEST FOR REVIEW FILED AGAINST ESQUIMALT WITH OIPC

Esquimalt, British Columbia - August 13, 2012

A "Request for Review" has been filed against the Township of Esquimalt with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. This is a formal request, made pursuant to Section 52 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, asking the OIPC to review a decision made by a public body regarding a request for information.

This case involves an access request submitted to Esquimalt on July 6th by David Bratzer. He asked for a copy of the RCMP proposal received by Esquimalt in response to its RFP for policing services.

Esquimalt denied the request.

In a nutshell, their position is that they “cannot release the requested report in its entirety, or reasonably sever exempted information to disclose any part of it" as the proposal is exempt from disclosure under sections 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 21 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

These sections of FIPPA deal with serious matters including Cabinet confidence, government relations, the investigative techniques used by law enforcement, the financial and economic interests of various public bodies, the ability of the government to manage the economy, trade secrets and other issues.

In his complaint to the OIPC, Mr. Bratzer suggests that Esquimalt does not genuinely believe the RCMP proposal is exempt from disclosure, nor does the Township believe that harm will result if the proposal becomes public. Otherwise, Esquimalt Council never would have passed an in-camera resolution asking the RCMP to release its proposal, as announced in its "action plan" on July 5th:

http://www.esquimalt.ca/news/news07051201.aspx

This evening, Esquimalt Council will once again be meeting in-camera at 5:45pm at Esquimalt Municipal Hall. Their agenda is available here:

http://www.esquimalt.ca/files/PDF/Agendas_and_Minutes/2012_08_13_Council_Agenda_Special.pdf

David Bratzer can be contacted for interviews at 250 813 2117 (after 1pm) or by email anytime at davidbratzer@gmail.com. Additional background information is available at DavidBratzer.ca.