A Freedom of Information request to the City of New Westminster to access targeted emails and documents results in a nearly $600 charge
New Westminster (July 26, 2022): On July 11, 2022, New West Progressive mayoral candidate Ken Armstrong, Q.C. wrote to the Hon. Nathan Cullen, Minister of Municipal Affairs, to request a thorough review of the circumstances regarding breaches of the Local Government Act in New Westminster. Armstrong is calling upon Mayor and Council to do the right thing and voluntarily release key emails and documents pertaining to the breaches.
New Westminster Mayor and Council have already admitted during a scheduled council meeting that the City has in fact breached the Local Government Act by not providing proper notification related to the waiving of public hearings. It was further reported on July 12 by the New Westminster Record that the City learned of the breach “a little while ago”. Just how long did the City know about its mistakes and what kept them from correcting its mistakes until July 11? Why was the resolution to the issue of resolving the breaches only placed on the agenda at the last minute?
The New West Progressives filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the City for more information related to these breaches of the Local Government Act – only to be provided with an estimated bill of almost $600 to process the request.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of a local resident, we have confirmation that the breaches occurred,” says Armstrong. “Citizens should have readily available access to information related to these breaches, which we know there were at least five (5). That is simply good practice of any transparent and accountable government. We are calling on Mayor and Council to do the right thing and immediately release all the information related to these breaches.”
To date, there has been no formal response from Minister Nathan Cullen, nor any of his officials, as to whether they are willing to investigate the circumstances that led up to breaches of the Local Government Act.