Township of Emo Trying to Conceal Documents Until After the Election

On November 2 and 3, 2021, I filed two freedom of information requests with the Township of Emo. The default response time for such requests, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), is 30 days. In December 2021, the municipality sent me time extension notices, seeking until July 1, 2022 to provide the responsive documents. On June 27, 2022 the municipality again sent me letters to extend their time to respond, this time to November 30, 2022.

This is over a year after the date of my requests. This would also place the Township's response after the 2022 municipal election. In my view, citizens ought to be able to judge the performance of their municipality and their elected representatives at election time, not after. These is no reason that it should take this long to respond to straight-forward requests. It is apparent from the numbering system on the letters from the municipality that these are the only active requests they had on file at time they were submitted (they are numbered "01" and "02"). As a result of the municipality's refusal to comply with basic requirements of MFIPPA, I have filed appeals with the Information and Privacy Commissioner in respect of both requests. I will keep you updated on the outcomes.

You can read all of the letters referred to above here.