BILL NO. 141

(as introduced)

2nd Session, 58th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
51 Elizabeth II, 2002

Private Member's Bill

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(amended)

Michel Samson
Richmond

First Reading: November 1, 2002

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Subclause 1(1) provides that an applicant who requests information pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act shall pay a fee in the amount of five dollars.

Subclause 1(2)

(a) sets out the maximum fees that may be charged for the services referred to in subsection 11(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and

(b) provides that an applicant is not required to pay a fee for the first two hours spent locating and retrieving a record.

Subclause 1(3) adds additional provisions to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act dealing with estimated fees and the waiving of fees.

Clause 2 removes the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that require a person to pay a fee for a review of a decision under the Act.

Clause 3 removes the authority of the Governor in Council to make regulations prescribing or limiting the fees to be paid pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 (1) Subsection 11(1) of Chapter 5 of the Acts of 1993, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, is amended by striking out "the application fee prescribed by the regulations" in the second and third lines and substituting "an application fee in the amount of five dollars."

(2) Section 11 of Chapter 5, as amended by Chapter 5 of the Acts of 2002, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsections:

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the fees for services mentioned in subsection (2) shall not exceed the following amounts:

(a) for locating and retrieving a record, ten dollars for each half-hour of person time, rounded down to the nearest half-hour;

(b) for producing a record manually, ten dollars for each half-hour of person time, rounded down to the nearest half-hour;

(c) for producing a record from a machine-readable record, the actual cost incurred for computer usage and for developing a computer program to produce the record;

(d) for preparing a record for disclosure and handling a record, ten dollars for each half-hour of person time, rounded down to the nearest half-hour;

(e) for shipping a record, the actual costs of the shipping method chosen by the applicant;

(f) where the record is stored or recorded in printed form and can be copied on conventional photocopying equipment, twenty cents a page for providing a copy of the record;

(g) where the record is stored or recorded in a manner other than that referred to in clause (f) or cannot be reproduced on conventional photocopying equipment, the actual cost of reproduction for providing a copy of the record.

(3A) Notwithstanding subsection (2), an applicant is not required to pay a fee for the first two hours spent locating and retrieving a record.

(3) Section 11 of Chapter 5, as amended by Chapter 5 of the Acts of 2002, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (8) the following subsections:

(9) Where an applicant is not required to pay and has not paid an estimated fee in advance pursuant to subsection (6) and the head of the public body has not waived the payment of the fee, the applicant shall pay the fee for services when access to a record is given or refused.

(10) A head of a public body shall refund to an applicant any fee paid for services pursuant to subsection (2) that is subsequently waived.

(11) Where the actual cost of responding to an application is less than the estimated fee paid by an applicant pursuant to subsection (6), the head of the public body that responds to the application shall refund the difference to the applicant.

(12) The following are additional circumstances in which a head of a public body may waive the payment of all or part of a prescribed fee:

(a) where the applicant is given access to the record;

(b) if the amount of the payment would be five dollars or less or where the amount of the payment is too small to justify requiring a payment.

2 Subsections 32(4) to (6) of Chapter 5 are repealed.

3 Clause 49(1)(b) of Chapter 5 is repealed.