Want to know the real status of Pan Am Games construction? That will be $4,219.10
Governments apply public-access rules inconsistently, in this case refusing to offer requested information cheaper in a digital form.

thestar.com
Nov. 12, 2014
By Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto organizing committee for the 2015 Pan Am Games wants more than $4,000 for access to information on the construction progress and delays on new, tax-funded sports facilities.

The Star requested internal communications and emails about the status of 10 new facilities and any delays over an 18-month period, under the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In September, TO2015 said getting those records would cost $5,760. After a Star reporter revised the request, the price was reduced to $4,219.

More than a quarter of that fee - $1,241 - is the cost estimated to print out 5,808 pages, at 20 cents per page, and ship them to the Star. TO2015 has refused to provide the records more cheaply on a CD, citing privacy concerns they say they don’t have the software to solve.

There is a problem of inconsistent practices across government agencies and in how the freedom of information act is interpreted, said Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce law at the University of Ottawa.

“That’s unquestionably a problem when we’ve got both federally and provincially open government mandates that haven’t done a very good job on the access-to-information side, but at a minimum at least speak to more open government,” Geist said. “They don’t have either uniform policies or similarly understood policies on some of these issues.”

He added that copying fees can be a significant barrier to the public for getting information.

The games will cost about $2.5 billion, with 10 new facilities across the GTA carrying a $575-million price tag. Despite delays already experienced with facilities such as Hamilton’s new soccer stadium, the province and organizers have repeatedly said the facilities for next summer’s events will be built on time and under-budget.

When the Star received the original cost estimate for the records, a reporter asked whether printing and shipping costs could be minimized by putting the information on a CD.

“Unfortunately we cannot provide CD due to metadata within the records, specifically regarding personal information, we cannot guarantee that it is removed,” coordinator Michelle Michiels wrote in an email.

Metadata is information embedded in a file that can include details such as who the author is or when it was created.

The Star responded by sending a step-by-step guide to common ways to ensure all metadata is scrubbed from PDFs - something that can be done in bulk. A reporter pointed out that other ministries and governments provide records in digital format.

After a new estimate was provided on a revised request, on Wednesday the Star tried asking again about digital copies, speaking with a new coordinator.

After speaking with a TO2015 lawyer, Erica Murray told the Star by phone that if they provided PDFs, they would have “no way of guaranteeing” any sections blacked out - redactions they deem necessary - could not be undone.

“We just don’t have the software to do that,” she said when pressed on providing digital copies.

Berry implied a reporter might be able to see behind the blacked-out sections using software or somehow digitally manipulating the files.

She said the information could be provided on a CD, but would have to be printed, manually redacted and then scanned - meaning the cost remains the same.

“I think that’s nonsense, I have to say,” said Geist, who said he’s recently faced a similar response.

While neither the federal nor provincial acts explicitly outline digital access, it has been practice for some institutions to provide information electronically on request. The federal act does specify that institutions should “make every reasonable effort to assist the person in connection with the request,” including providing records “in the format requested.”

A letter from TO2015 outlining the cost of the Star's access to information request.

Toronto city hall’s access and privacy section regularly provides records on CD at the flat cost of $10.

Though it didn’t not come under an access request, the Superior Court released a nearly 500-page police document last year, detailing an investigation into Mayor Rob Ford and the infamous crack video, as a heavily redacted PDF.

Because the acts don’t explicitly say digital copies should be provided on request, there is little recourse for the public. Any costs can be appealed to Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner.

Ken Rubin, a leading access-to-information advocate based in Ottawa, says the act needs to be changed to deal with excessive costs.

“The irony, of course, is that it’s kind of rich when you’re talking about a multi-billion-dollar Games and you can’t produce, in a regular transparent fashion, figures that relate to keeping costs in control and viewable - accountable,” he said.