Once more unto the breach
Ron Bolin: Dec. 10, 2015
Act 2 Begins:
I have begun again the tedious process of attempting to see the segment redacted from a City Council video over a year and a half ago restored to its place in the public record following the recent decision by the OIPC adjudicator that my original request which they accepted over a year ago following some six months of preliminary examination was incorrect in its form. I will try to do better this time.
To date the following exchanges with the City have taken place.
____________________________
From: Ron Bolin [mailto:rlbolin@telus.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2015 11:25 AM
To: Tracy Samra
Cc: Mayor&Council
Subject: OIPC File No.: F14-58563
City of Nanaimo
Att: Tracy Samra, City Manager
Nov. 26, 2015
Dear Ms. Samra:
As you are aware, an adjudicator for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, following some 18 months of process within that office, has ruled that in the case of OIPC File No.: F14-58563 “No request under FIPPA” was made and accordingly, that “The City’s reply was not a response under s. 8(1) of FIPPA.”
The adjudicator goes on to write that: “Rather, the remedy he seeks is for the City to restore the “redacted” portion of the video to its public website.”
I am making that request with this email.
Thank you for the City’s response at your earliest convenience.
Ron Bolin
3165 King Richard Drive
Nanaimo, BC V9T 4A1
_____________________________________
From: Tracy Samra
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2015 11:44 AM
To: ‘Ron Bolin’
Cc: Mayor&Council ; Sheila Gurrie ; Chris Jackson ; Guillermo Ferrero ; Jan Kemp
Subject: RE: OIPC File No.: F14-58563
Mr. Bolin,
I acknowledge receipt of your request and by way of copy I am forwarding it to the responsible staff. We will keep you apprised of our progress. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our offices.
Yours truly,
Tracy Samra, City Manager
T: 250-755-4410
This email is intended to be received only by the person to whom it is addressed and may be PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and inform the sender immediately.
__________________________________________
From: Sheila Gurrie
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2015 10:30 AM
Cc: John Van Horne ; Tracy Samra
Subject: RE: OIPC File No.: F14-58563
Mr. Bolin,
Please see the attached letter in response to your email below.
Thank you,
Sheila Gurrie, CIPP/C, CIAPP-P
FOI Coordinator
Legislative Services
City of Nanaimo
455 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5J6
T 250.755.4494 F 250.755.4435
This email is intended to be received only by the person to whom it is addressed and may be PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL. If you have received this email in error please delete it and inform the sender immediately. Thank you.
This is the letter which was attached to the above email from Ms. Gurrie:
_______________________________
I will be interested in your comments and questions, as well as any legal/administrative advice which you may be able to offer. I remind all that the purpose of this request is to get a finding that Staff and/or Council do not have the authority to redact facts presented in evidence in an open Council meeting and to prevent such a precedent from being accepted.
I have requested the City’s expenditure for legal services and Staff time which have been expended to date in this matter and await the City’s response.
I have requested from the OIPCBC whether, since the case to date has effectively been ruled as void, the documents exchanged during that void process can now be ruled as public documents and released. I await the OIPCBC’s response.
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
I have now received a response from the OIPCBC regarding my question about the documents that were shared between myself and the City in the case of the redacted Notice of Motion. Here is the exchange. Any legal experts out there who would like to tell me what the response means relative to the question asked?
I have had no input as regards the cost to the City of the action to date.
________________________________
From: Cindy Hamilton
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 9:51 AM
To: ‘Ron Bolin’
Subject: RE: OIPC File F14-58563
Hi Mr. Bolin,
Sorry for not responding to your email of last week. I don’t consider the submissions to be in the “public realm”, but they are in your possession. The OIPC keeps and stores all of our files, and of course we never give out submissions received from parties to an inquiry.
Kind regards,
Cindy Hamilton
_______________________________
From: Ron Bolin [mailto:rlbolin@telus.net]
Sent: December-11-15 12:42 AM
To: Cindy Hamilton
Subject: Fw: OIPC File F14-58563
Hi Cindy:
I hope I am not being too pushy, but it has been over a week and I have not had any indication that this request was received.
Am I correct in my assertion about the paperwork associated with that file?
Thanks
Ron
______________________________
From: Ron Bolin
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2015 2:06 PM
To: Cindy Hamilton
Subject: Re: OIPC File F14-58563
Hello Cindy:
I am trying to determine the status of the documents which were submitted by both sides in the above matter. Am I correct in assuming that since it has been ruled a non OIPCBC request followed by a non response, that the paperwork involved is now in the public realm as if it had simply been an exchange of ideas?
Ron