BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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FIPA celebrates 5th birthday of FOI Request for BC government’s $300 million contract with IBM
Fresh from a victory in BC Supreme Court that ordered most of the $300 million IBM Workplace Support Services contract with the province released over the objections of IBM and the BC government, the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is having a birthday party to mark the five years since the FOI request was filed for the contract.
“We’re going to have some champagne, and maybe we’ll sing Happy Birthday,” said FIPA Policy Director Vincent Gogolek. “After all, it’s not every day that an FOI request gets to be five years old.”
“By the way,” Gogolek added, “we’re still waiting for the government to actually deliver the contract to us, and who knows, they may decide to appeal to a higher court.”
The cake will be cut at The People’s Law School, Suite 150, 900 Howe Street (Entrance on Smithe St. between Granville and Howe). FIPA representatives will be joined by Micheal Vonn, Policy Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, and Maureen Bader, BC Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
In a decision handed down on December 10, Justice Christopher Grauer of the BC Supreme Court ruled that the government has to release parts of the contract with IBM that are not subject to claims of exceptions under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
FIPA filed an FOI request for the Workplace Support Services contract with IBM in December 2004. Both the government and IBM insisted that non-controversial parts of the contract could not be released until every objection to release was dealt with. Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis disagreed, and ordered the release of the non-controversial records in July 2008.
The government went to BC Supreme Court for judicial review of that decision, and were resoundingly refused. Justice Grauer said the Commissioner’s decision was not only reasonable, it was also correct. As he so eloquently put it:
“All else being equal, the interpretation that would allow for prompt access to uncontroversial information should be preferred over the interpretation that would delay all access to the very end of the process.”
“Even if the government sees reason and decides not to appeal Justice Grauer’s decision, this request still has a long way to go before it’s completed,” said Gogolek. “I fully expect that we will be back next year for a sixth birthday party for this FOI request unless there is a dramatic change in attitude by the government and IBM.”
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Fresh from a victory in BC Supreme Court that ordered most of the $300 million IBM Workplace Support Services contract with the province released over the objections of IBM and the BC government, the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is having a birthday party to mark the five years since the FOI request was filed for the contract.
“We’re going to have some champagne, and maybe we’ll sing Happy Birthday,” said FIPA Policy Director Vincent Gogolek. “After all, it’s not every day that an FOI request gets to be five years old.”
“By the way,” Gogolek added, “we’re still waiting for the government to actually deliver the contract to us, and who knows, they may decide to appeal to a higher court.”
The cake will be cut at The People’s Law School, Suite 150, 900 Howe Street (Entrance on Smithe St. between Granville and Howe). FIPA representatives will be joined by Micheal Vonn, Policy Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, and Maureen Bader, BC Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
In a decision handed down on December 10, Justice Christopher Grauer of the BC Supreme Court ruled that the government has to release parts of the contract with IBM that are not subject to claims of exceptions under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
FIPA filed an FOI request for the Workplace Support Services contract with IBM in December 2004. Both the government and IBM insisted that non-controversial parts of the contract could not be released until every objection to release was dealt with. Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis disagreed, and ordered the release of the non-controversial records in July 2008.
The government went to BC Supreme Court for judicial review of that decision, and were resoundingly refused. Justice Grauer said the Commissioner’s decision was not only reasonable, it was also correct. As he so eloquently put it:
“All else being equal, the interpretation that would allow for prompt access to uncontroversial information should be preferred over the interpretation that would delay all access to the very end of the process.”
“Even if the government sees reason and decides not to appeal Justice Grauer’s decision, this request still has a long way to go before it’s completed,” said Gogolek. “I fully expect that we will be back next year for a sixth birthday party for this FOI request unless there is a dramatic change in attitude by the government and IBM.”
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Access to InformationTags