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Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has rebuked Toronto City Clerk Ulli Watkiss’s<\/a> attempt to withhold files from a Toronto resident, saying her actions were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153contrary to the spirit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the legislation that protects the public’s right to access government information. Yet the City says it has no intention of changing its interpretation of the law.<\/p>\n Rami Tabello<\/a> had been barred from accessing public documents at the City of Toronto when Watkiss claimed his requests were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153frivolous and vexatious.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d On Monday, 16 months later, Tabello’s access was reinstated by Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner <\/a>(IPC) when she ruled<\/a> [PDF] Watkiss’s decision was without merit and served to stifle a law meant to bring accountability to government.<\/p>\n Tabello, founder and co-ordinator of the outdoor advertising industry watchdog IllegalSigns.ca<\/a>, files complaints against allegedly illegal signs and then catalogues the scofflaws in the ad industry and incompetent City inspectors who fail to uphold the laws of the city on his web site.<\/p>\n After making more than 600 freedom of information (FOI) requests in 2006 to get the information required to file his complaints, Tabello was informed by Watkiss that the City would not respond to his FOI requests. In her January 23, 2007 letter<\/a> to Tabello, Watkiss invoked a clause in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act <\/a>(MFIPPA) that says she can choose not to fill an FOI request if she deems the request to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153frivolous or vexatious.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Instead of taking Watkiss’s decision as the final word, Tabello, who runs IllegalSigns.ca with a small group of volunteers, appealed to the IPC.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The adjudicator for the case, Catherine Corbin, summarized both sides of the story in her report. The picture Corbin paints is that the City was overwhelmed by the number of FOI requests after complying with more than 300 of them from Tabello. The City then tried to make the case that all 600 requests were essentially the same because Tabello’s true intent was to systemically change \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the enforcement of the City’s by-laws relating to sign permits.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Moreover, the City alleged that Tabello sought to use the information from the FOI requests \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to portray the City in a negative light on his web site\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Corbin’s words).<\/p>\n Tabello’s position, as described by Corbin, was that each FOI request was unique because it was for unique pieces of information (the building permit for one address is not the same for that of another location). Further, Tabello submitted that the City’s permit system is designed to easily retrieve information and that a system that is built to handle so many thousands of applications should be able to respond to hundreds of queries for information.<\/p>\n In Corbin’s discussion of the facts of the case, her report acknowledges that the volume of Tabello’s requests likely puts a strain on City resources. However, Corbin is clear that the other criteria that must be evident for an FOI request to be considered frivolous or vexatious — pattern of conduct, broad nature and scope, and timing and purpose that demonstrate bad faith — didn’t indicate an abuse of the system.<\/p>\n In her conclusion, Corbin states, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have found that the only factor that might support such a finding is the large number of requests that have been filed. Although they are in number, I have not found that the nature and scope, the timing or the purpose of the requests could have reasonably been perceived to amount to an abuse of process on the part of the appellant (Tabello).\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n However, Corbin goes further by applying a quote from an adjudicator identified as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Officer Higgins\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to describe the City’s actions: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to find that a request is…’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.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n In response to the decision, City spokesman Rob Andrusevich says \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the City will comply with the order\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from the IPC to turn over the documents Tabello requested. However, when asked how the City will change its interpretation of the Act given the harsh words of the IPC, Andrusevich would only say that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the City thought we were accurate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in interpreting MFIPPA, suggesting no changes will be made.<\/p>\n Andrusevich also defended the City Clerk’s record of dealing with FOI requests, saying that while the City receives more than 5,000 requests per year, less than one percent of decisions are appealed to the IPC and only 25% of appealed decisions are overturned in part or in full.<\/p>\n Tabello, on the other hand, says the Clerk should resign or be fired, citing decisions by Watkiss that include one in 2006 Councillor Howard Moscoe<\/a>, chairman of the Licensing and Standards Committee, which recently considered a report<\/a> [PDF] on illegal billboards compiled almost entirely from the complaints filed by Tabello, is unimpressed with the City Clerk, too. He said he plans to write a letter to Watkiss that “she won’t be happy about.”<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The position the City took (in opposing the FOI request) is outrageous,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Councillor Moscoe after reading the IPC ruling. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s not (Tabello) being frivolous.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153(Tabello) should get an award\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Rami should be encouraged to keep going because the only time the City acts is when people from outside force them to.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Tabello says he won’t stop filing FOI requests anytime soon and, in his characteristically assertive manner, had this to say about any future attempt by the City Clerk to corral his group’s activism: “We will certainly not shrink from taking the City Clerk to court should she try to pull this again.”<\/p>\n Photograph by <\/em>Steve Russell\/Toronto Star<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"http:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/councillors\/photos\/hmoscoe.jpg\")
that resulted in the IPC calling her response to an FOI request \u00e2\u20ac\u0153somewhat disingenuous<\/a>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d [PDF]<\/p>\n