Belleville council is supporting a resolution from Chatham-Kent asking that the provincial government review the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Chatham-Kent says the number of freedom of information requests is overwhelming city staff and many are either frivolous or vexatious or both.
Responding to a question from Councillor Chris Malette, Belleville City Clerk Matt MacDonald said Chatham-Kent was definitely not alone in having problems with the Municipal Freedom of Information Act.
MacDonald said the number of information requests has dramatically increased over the past 30 years since the act was written, pointing to new technology which creates much more information for a municipality to keep on record.
MacDonald said many of the requests for information received were frivolous or mean-spirited, open to abuse by some lawyers, and that staff were being forced to spend far too much time dealing with them.
The city currently has three requests before the Information Privacy Commissioner’s Office seeking frivolous and vexatious declaration against applicants with multiple files, one numbering in the twenties.
He welcomed a review of the act to take into consideration the municipal resources available to deal with information requests.
