I have filed the following complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

June 30, 2015

Elizabeth Denham
Information and Privacy Commissioner
PO Box 9038 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9A4
email: [email protected] 

Dear Ms. Denham:

Please consider this an official complaint about the handling of a Freedom of Information request I recently made to TransLink. I believe your office should investigate this complaint and instruct TransLink on the proper handling of FOI requests.

The timeline of my request is as follows:

• My original request for “An itemized list (with name, role, date, and total cost) of all TransLink and subsidiary (BCRTC, Transit Police, WCE, CMBC, Transit Security, AirCare and any other relevant agency) severance or separation payments paid to terminated salaried staff since January 1, 2011. Also, a similar list of all payments to vendors to terminate contracted services, again since January 1, 2011” was filed November 21, 2014.
• The request was delayed for months by TransLink (another item worthy of your investigation). I believe this delay was motivated by the ongoing TransLink tax plebiscite, and held back purposely by TransLink until after voting closed.
• In the early afternoon of June 29, 2015, reporter Michael Mui (who did not file such a request), was called by TransLink media relations advisor Chris Bryan, offering him the results of my FOI request.
• At 2:09 p.m., June 29, 2015, Mr. Mui received an email from Mr. Bryan, with highlights of my FOI request, along with “talking points” developed by the TransLink communications team.
• At 4:21 p.m., June 29, 2015, I received an email from TransLink Information Access Coordinator Colleen Fee with the results of my FOI.
• At 4:44 p.m., June 29, 2015, I received a phone call from Mr. Mui, asking if I was the one who requested the information. He indicated that TransLink’s Mr. Bryan had called him out of the blue, offering information that had been requested by someone else through FOI.

While I am a firm supporter of proactive disclosure, this is not an example of that good practice. TransLink had no intention of releasing the information until I requested it; the FOI office then handed over my request to the communications department, which sent it to a reporter before I even received it.

As set out in your Investigation Report F11-02 (BC Ferries – found here: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/investigation-reports/1243), I recognize that this disclosure may not violate the letter of the law, but it does the spirit. As you ruled:

I find that the simultaneous disclosure practice of BC Ferries frustrates the purposes of FIPPA. This is because it may deter individuals, particularly journalists, from making access requests. Public bodies become less, not more, accountable when journalists and others are deterred from making access requests. The public interest is best served by integrating a period of delay between the time the applicant receives the response to her or his access request and the posting of that response in a disclosure log. I am recommending a minimum 24-hour delay in all cases and a further delay upon request by the applicant.

TransLink violated this best practice by actually pre-releasing my FOI to a media outlet at least an hour before I received it. I request you investigate this matter and instruct TransLink to change its policies to prevent future pre-disclosure of FOI material.

Please find attached my original request, the response from TransLink, the attachment to that response, the email sent to Mr. Mui by Mr. Bryan, and the attachment to Mr. Bryan’s email. 

Please advise if you need other information before proceeding.

Sincerely,

Jordan Bateman
B.C. Director
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
c/o 6951 208A St.
Langley BC V2Y 0G1
Phone: 604-999-3319
Email: [email protected] 

cc:        TransLink FOI Office
cc:        Michael Mui, 24 Hours newspaper
cc:        Scott Hennig, VP-Communications, Canadian Taxpayers Federation