SUNDRE — Town council recently heard during a first quarter financial report that the cost associated with the municipality’s legislative services was higher than budgeted.
Chris Albert, director of corporate services, presented his report on June 13 during a regular meeting when he said the forecasted expense was “significantly higher” than last year.
“That is pretty much a direct result of legal costs in regards to FOIP (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) requests for the fire department,” he told council during that meeting.
In response to follow-up questions, he told the Albertan the municipality typically receives FOIP requests “very infrequently” – perhaps once every couple of years – and that they do not usually need the services of a legal firm.
The amount of time required to respond of course depends on the nature of a request, but information can generally be compiled by a staff member within hours, he said.
“In this case, we have received eight requests from one individual, some of which requesting confidential (human resources) related information and legal correspondence that includes specifics about individuals other than the requester,” he elaborated, adding when asked that the identity of anyone filing a FOIP request “is protected information.“
“Should a requester be denied access to the information, or if they believe insufficient information has been received, they have the right to request a review from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.“
And since the municipality must respond to the commissioner with legally supported arguments explaining why information has been withheld, retaining the services of a legal firm is advisable, he said.
“To date, the requests before the privacy commissioner have cost approximately $24,000 in legal fees and dozens of hours in senior staff time to respond.”
