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Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection to Privacy
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The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) came into effect on January 1, 1991. The legislation applies to all municipalities in Ontario and to various other institutions such as the Library Board and the Police Services Board.
The Act does not apply to private companies, credit bureaus, doctors' records, hospitals or to federal government institutions. Many of these institutions are covered under separate legislation that applies specifically to Ministries and Agencies.
Section 25 of the MFIPPA Act requires the Town to create and keep an up-to-date listing of Town documents and records.
All paper documents, microfilm/fiche, computer disk data, e-mail and other forms of stored data are all considered to be records of the Town and are subject to certain limitations, there is a right of access to information in records.
The personal information of individuals has to be protected and is not accessible. Persons whom wish to access information are required to complete a Request Form or write a letter stating that they are asking for information under the Act.
Requesters must provide a completed Request Form or letter to the Clerk. There is a $5.00 access fee which is required to be paid for any requests. Cheques should be made payable to "Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury".
The Clerk must process the request for information within 30 days of receiving the request under the Act. The decision provided to either release the record in its entirely, in part or to deny access to the record is made by the Clerk. This decision is based on the provisions of the Act and on relevant Orders that have been issued by the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC).
The Clerk may issue a decision letter to the requester enclosing the records that are being released or explaining in detail why access is being denied to other records in part or entirely. The letter will also provide an explanation of the Appeal process to the Information Privacy Commissioner. The requester may wish to pursue an appeal if they are not satisfied with the decision made by the Clerk. The Information Privacy Commissioner will first attempt to achieve a mediated settlement of the appeal between the appellant and the institution. Should the mediated settlement proceedings be unsuccessful then the appeal will go to adjudication and the Information Privacy Commissioner will issue an Order either upholding the decision of the local Co-ordinator or directing that some or all of the denied records be released to the requester.
The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury promotes open government and implements the principles of the Act. Many of the Town's records are available to the public without having to make an application for the information under the Act. Individuals should have access to their own personal information.
Fortunately, the legislation does have a feature in it that allows requesters to withdraw requests. Our experience has been that in some cases people are willing to withdraw formal requests when they discover that the information they are looking for is readily available to them. The "informal route" is usually faster and less expensive.
For additional information regarding the Municipal Freedom of Information Protection to Privacy Act , please contact the, Clerk.