finding out

OK, I'm fed up with ducking, squirming, evasion and truculence on the part of Smithers Council so here's what I've done to get the ball rolling. Go here to see the information request.
For those who don't know, The Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies to divulge any record in their "care or custody" on a written request. There are some exceptions for sensitive material and refusals, exorbitant fees and delays are all appealable to the Commissioner, currently David Loukidelis.
The Act is here and the Commissioner's web site can be found here.
The usual procedure for a reluctant public body (and yes, Virginia, the Town of Smithers is a public body) is to wait the full thirty working days and then request an extension. They may or may not get it, a disputed extension request goes to the Commissioner's office for adjudication. Usually they get the extension. Then they argue that their information is sooooo special that it must be one of the permitted exceptions. Another dogfight with the Commissioner's office. Then the fee question arises. Another dogfight.

I will document every step here and post every document for public information. If Council is going to be childish it will have to do so as publicly as I can manage.

In about ten days I will start putting up the recent rezoning documents from the (utterly useless) public hearing process. Stay tuned...