Provincial department asked once again to seek help to handle information requests

Nova Scotia's acting information and privacy commissioner has recommended that a provincial department beef up resources to "fulfil its legal obligation" under the freedom of information act.

In a report issued Tuesday, Carmen Stuart was critical of the Department of Opportunities and Social Development's handling of an access request filed on Oct. 3, 2024, which the department had not responded to beyond seeking an extension because of the "unusual size of the record."

The department anticipates it will take until next year to process the more than 4,000 pages of records, Stuart noted in her report. 

On Nov. 29, 2024, the department was denied permission by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for an extension of 182 days to comply with the request.

Stuart noted her office was unable to resolve the matter informally, which triggered her report. In it, she noted this was "the sixth report that the commissioner has made since August 2023 because the (department) has failed to respond to the applicant within the statutory deadline."

"For this reason, the Commissioner is repeating the recommendation … that senior leadership at the (department) address this problem by ensuring it has sufficient resources to fulfil its legal obligation under FOIPOP."

Tricia Ralph, the information and privacy commissioner at the time, made a similar recommendation on Oct. 23, 2024.

"Within a month of the date of this review report, senior leadership at the public body address this problem by ensuring it has sufficient resources to fulfil its legal obligations under FOIPOP," wrote Ralph. "This includes hiring additional staff and exploring any other avenues that could be capitalized to complete this work."

According to Stuart, the department rejected Ralph's recommendation.

Spring legislation

During the spring sitting of the legislature, the Houston government tabled legislation to amend the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to allow public bodies to refuse applications that are "trivial, frivolous or vexatious." 

The attempt drew a rebuke from Ralph in the last days of her tenure.

The PC government backed off those changes and other controversial measures, including an attempt to gain the power to fire the province's auditor general without cause. That came following public outcry. 

The Justice Department launched a review of Nova Scotia's access to information legislation in September 2023 with an anticipated release of a report this spring.

Justice Minister Becky Druhan recently acknowledged that work continues but could not say when it might be completed.

Department responds

The Department of Opportunities and Social Development "receives a large volume of personal and general FOIPOP applications," it said in a statement Friday afternoon. "Some requests span decades and involve thousands of pages of both hard copy and electronic records. Requests may also deal with sensitive personal information and require consultation with third parties.

"As the report states, in this case, it is a 4,000+ page file. Work is underway, and we will issue a decision to the applicant once we have completed the line-by-line review and consultations. The department will continue to work to improve our response times and respond to requests as quickly as possible."