Access to Information The Next Challenge Fees

1
Access to Information The Next Challenge
Fees

• Prepared by Joan Mann
• ATI Coordinator
• Canada Post Corporation
• September 24, 2007

2
Section 11 of the ATIA

• an application fee not to exceed 25
• reasonable search and preparation time in excess
  of 5 hours
• the cost of producing a record in an alternative
  format
• the production of a machine readable record
• reproduction costs

3
The Request

• The Federal Sponsorship Agency (FSA) has received
  the following request
• I am requesting a copy of all records, reports,
  memoes, emails, briefing notes, or any other
  information in any form about missing funds,
  reports, laptops, furniture that are missing,
  stolen, or otherwise unaccounted for the period
  of April 1, 1990 to March 31, 2003.
• I am requesting a fee waiver in the public
  interest.
• Provide on CD in WordPerfect software

4
Fee Waiver

• The requester has asked for a fee waiver in the
  public interest
• Would you waive the fee?
• 11(6) The head of a government institution
• to which a request for access to a record is
• made under this Act may waive the
• requirement to pay a fee or other amount or
• a part thereof under this section or may refund a
  fee or part
• thereof paid under this section.

5
Deciding Where to Search

• There is a 1/2 hour management meeting (the
  coordinator and three managers) to discuss
• what the request is about, and
• where to look for the records.
• Is this search time?
• ATI Act, ss. 11(2) The head of a government
  institution to which a request for access to a
  record is made under this Act may require,
  payment of an amountfor every hour in excess of
  five hours that is reasonably required to search
  for the record or prepare any part of it for
  disclosure

6
Meeting to decide where to look for
recordsSearch time for request

• A) zero
• B) 2 hours
• C) 1 hour
• D) 1/2 hour

7
Request Notification

• Sent to 2 OPIs
• Director of Security
• Director of Corporate Services
• asking if they have records responsive to the
  request and how long it would take to locate the
  records.

8
Search Clarification

• The Director of Security comes to see you with a
  number of questions about items that are not
  explicitly asked for in the requestsuch as
  stolen desktop computers. He wants to know if
  they should search for records about them.
• He also wants you to define what memoes are in
  the access request.

9
Search Clarification

• The discussion about stolen computers and
  memoes took 30 minutes.
• How much search time is involved?
• Zero
• 60 minutes (Two persons x 30 min.)
• 30 minutes (Only half of the discussion was about
  the search)

10
Searching Machine-readable Records

• The Director of Corporate Services responds to
  the request notification.
• She tells you that most data is only in
  computerized form. She can use the Microsoft
  Excel program to create spreadsheets with the
  requested information. It will take her about one
  hour.
• Is this search time, or computer programming
  time?
• Heres what the Regulations say

11
Searching Machine-readable Records

• ATI Regulations
•   7(3) Where the record requested is produced
  from a machine readable record, the head of the
  government institution may require payment for
  the cost of production and programming calculated
  in the following manner
• a) 16.50 per minute for the cost of the
  central processor and all locally attached
  devices
• and
• (b) 5 per person per quarter hour for time spent
  on programming a computer.

12
Searching Machine-readable Records

• What to charge for one hour?
• A) 10 (The Director is not a programmer)
• B) 20 (I hour on the spreadsheet program)
• C) 990 (60 minutes _at_ 16.50/minute for computer
  time)
• D) none of the above, we are not required to
  create records

13
Fees for Reproduction of Records

• The Federal Sponsorship Agency (FSA) has received
  the following request
• I am requesting a copy of all records, reports,
  memoes, emails, briefing notes, or any other
  information in any form about missing funds,
  laptops, furniture that are missing, stolen, or
  otherwise unaccounted for the period of April 1,
  1990 to March 31, 2003.
• I am requesting a fee waiver in the public
  interest.
• Provide on CD in WordPerfect software

14
Fees for Reproduction of Records

• 7. (1) Subject to subsection 11(6) of the Act, a
  person who makes a request for access to a record
  shall pay
• (i) for photocopying a page with dimensions of
  not more than 21.5 cm by 35.5 cm, 0.20 per page,
  
• (ii) for microfiche duplication, non-silver,
  0.40 per fiche,
• (iii) for 16 mm microfilm duplication,
  non-silver, 12 per 30.5 m roll,
• (iv) for 35 mm microfilm duplication, non-silver,
  14 per 30.5 m roll,
• (v) for microform to paper duplication, 0.25 per
  page, and
• (vi) for magnetic tape-to-tape duplication, 25
  per 731.5 m reel and
• (c) where the record or part thereof is produced
  in an alternative format, a fee, not to exceed
  the amount that would be charged for the record
  under paragraph (b),
• (i) .05 per page of braille
• (ii) .05 per page of large print
• (iii) 2.50 per audiocassette, or
• (iv) 2 per microcomputer diskette.

15
Fees for CD

• A) 50. (same as if 250 pages were printed)
• B) 2 (same as for a diskette)
• C) 20 for techie to burn a CD
• D) free since no fee is specified in regs
• E) Cant be done. CD is not mentioned in the
  Regulations.

16
Off-premises records

• Director of Security says that records prior to
  1997 are archived in Renfrew. He will have to
  send an employee to search through a warehouse.
• The search will take 7 hours.
• There will be 3 hours of travel time.
• The employee always takes his 15 minute coffee
  breaks. (Under the collective agreement, coffee
  breaks are paid time)
• The employee will be paid time-and a half for
  overtime.

17
Renfrew search costs

• A) 100 for 10 hours (includes travel time)
• B) 70 for 7 hours search time
• C) 65 for 6.5 hr search time
• (requester doesnt pay for coffee breaks)
• D) 112.5 (includes 2.5 hr overtime_at_ 15)

18
Total fee charged to requester

• Application fee 5
• Managers meeting 0
• Clarification with Dir. of Security 0
• Programming for finance data 20
• Burning a CD 0
• Renfrew search (n/c for 5 hr) 20
• 150 pages (n/c for 125) _at_ .20 5
• TOTAL 50

19
Fees for Search

• Requester pays
• 7 hours record search in Renfrew
• (first five hours are free) 20
• Programmers time for finance records 20
• Total fee for search 40
• Cost the government to conduct the search
  688
• (Just to estimate the search fees cost government
  about 200 in employees time)

20
Reasons to eliminate search fees

• Search fee depends on how organized
  record-keeping is
• Time is wasted estimating the search fee
• Uncertainty about what activities constitute a
  search
• Hard to define what is meant by use of central
  processor (terminology out of date)
• Unclear whether an employee searching e-mail and
  electronic files is programming their computer
  for search
• Second person requesting same info gets a free
  ride