Accessing historical RDN and most Trust records does not require a FOIPP request

Derek Kilbourn

Sounder News

With the concerns voiced by the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District about the ongoing costs of Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPP) requests for District records, the Sounder reached out to two other local governments serving Gabriolans – the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) and Islands Trust.

Staff with the RDN told the Sounder that the RDN classifies and retains records according to the 2017 Records Management Manual for Local Government Organizations (LGMA) – which means all board and committee meeting minutes and agendas are permanent records.

The RDN staff added that according to an older version of the LGMA, board agendas were not considered permanent and only had a 2-year retention requirement so some of the older RDN board agendas may have been destroyed.

Committee and board minutes going back to 2017 are available on the RDN website.

All permanent records for the RDN have been scanned and uploaded to an internal server. Staff can access and provide these documents in electronic form via email to the public upon request.

Minutes, agendas, and bylaws are all routinely releasable records and do not require an FOIPP request.

Staff said depending on the size / scope of the request for records, there may be a fee payable (either per page, or per record as applicable).

Members of the public can ask for these type of records at: inquires@rdn.bc.ca

According to the Legislative Services staff at the RDN, most FOIPP requests received at the RDN are exempt from fees under current legislation due to requiring less than three hours of staff time or is exempt work (e.g. review/redactions).

External consultant services are utilized  by the RDN for FOIPP requests work when needed.

For 2024, $25,000 has been allocated for external consultant work related to FOIPP requests.

Islands Trust staff said the first place to look for Trust documents would be on the Islands Trust website, which includes documents dating back to 2014.

Staff said there are meeting documents dating back further than 2014, these can be accessed by emailing information@islandstrust.bc.ca.

Trust staff said there is no charge for access to those historical records. The public may need to submit a Freedom of Information request depending on the situation or the record in question.

Trust staff wrote, “if the records are not readily available, that is, they’re public documents like bylaws and we do not have paper or electronic copies on site we can easily access and make available, or not on our website, then an FOI request would be needed, as we’ll need to retrieve the documents for them.”