Sudbury ordered to reduce fee for FOI request to $11K

The Information and Privacy Commission has ordered Greater Sudbury to reduce the fee for a freedom of information request to $ 11,111 to provide details of how many animals were euthanized in a five-year period, among other questions. (File)

The Information and Privacy Commission has ordered Greater Sudbury to reduce the fee for a freedom of information request to $ 11,111 to provide details of how many animals were euthanized in a five-year period, among other questions.

While still pricey, it's one-third of the original fee of $33,333 the city originally set.

The case dates back a number of years when animal control services were contracted to a third party. The city now runs its own animal shelter.

In addition to the number of euthanized animals, the original request asked for the number of animals to enter each shelter, the number of animals returned or claimed by the owner, the number of animals adopted, the number of animals -- if any -- sold or gifted to a research facility or a similar program, and the number of animals gifted or sold to research facilities returned after to shelter for adoption compared with the number euthanized.

The person requesting the information wanted details for each year from 2012 to 2016. The city provided a limited response but said it had no records of most of the information request.

That decision was appealed, and in October 2021, the privacy commission ruled that the records could be obtained from the former animal control provider.

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"By choosing to engage the named former animal control service provider to perform what was, essentially, a city function, the city cannot divest itself of its responsibility and accountability in relation to records directly related to that city function, which, but for the interposition of the named former animal control service provider, would clearly have been within both the city’s custody and control," the commission ruled.

"In this case, I am satisfied that responsive information can be provided in a format that can be generated by means of computer hardware and software, or other means, and that the process of producing it would not unreasonably interfere with the city’s operations. The only issue is the cost."

Original fee was $33,333

In response to that decision, Greater Sudbury estimated that there were about 2,000 records a year and each record would take about two minutes to review, so the fee to complete the FOI request would be $33,333.

That fee was appealed, and in a decision released Sept. 25, the privacy commission reduced it to $11,111.

It reasoned that a 2014 city report estimated that about one-third of animals in the shelter were euthanized. So a detailed review of only one-third of the 10,000 records over the five years was required.

"I accept that two minutes is a reasonable estimate of the time required to review each record involving a euthanized animal to determine the reason for euthanization," the commission ruled.

"Having regard to all the information before me, I reduce the time for the search by two-thirds."

The city argued that reducing the fee may require them to bear the cost of purchasing new software and developing new search queries to complete the request.

But the commission ruled it was not ordering the city to buy anything.

"The authority granted to me under the Act is to determine whether the city’s fee estimate decision is reasonable," the decision said.

"I do not have the authority to determine how the city or the organization is to conduct the search, and I have not made any order that the organization upgrade its records system. The city and the organization are free to determine the tools or other resources required to conduct an appropriate search that generates a fee estimate that is reasonable in the circumstances."

Read the full decision here.