WHEREAS the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act was passed with the intent to allow for access to information held by the provincial and local governments;AND WHEREAS the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act seriously curtails the amount of information that can be made available to the public;AND WHEREAS the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is unclear as to whether a government must create a record where none exists, when called upon to do so;AND WHEREAS the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is cumbersome, ambiguous, unclear and confusing;AND WHEREAS the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act has created a substantial increase in administration associated with the handling of documents requested by the public, due in part to the increased need for legislative interpretation;AND WHEREAS there have been reservations and concerns expressed about the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act by various provincial government ministers and MLA’s.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties request that the Government of Alberta undertake an immediate review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, by a committee made up of provincial legal counsel, representatives from the Executives of the AAMDC and AUMA, and representatives of the Society of Local Government Managers of Alberta.

Under this legislation the release of names and addresses of landowners to exploration companies who wish to enter into negotiations for seismic activity is not allowed, forcing the company to obtain the same information from Land Titles at a fee, and after consuming a considerable amount of time. Names and addresses of landowners cannot be released to legal firms who are facilitating land sales without a letter of consent having been provided to the municipality prior to such information being released. Names and addresses of landowners cannot be displayed on a tax certificate. The legislation is not clear as to whether there may be an obligation by the municipality to create records when individuals request information that may not exist or for which there is no record. Under this legislation the release of the name and address of a landowner submitting a development application for notification purposes may not be allowed (Example: Intensive Livestock Operations). This causes confusion when the Subdivision and Development Regulations state that notification shall take place in a form approved by the Provincial Government and that form does include the name and address.

Resolution ER1-99S, endorsed at the 1999 spring convention, calls on the Alberta government to repeal any provisions within the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that apply to municipal government, and instead continue to utilize the access to information provisions then contained in the Municipal Government Act. (These provisions have subsequently been repealed, and a Special Select Committee of the legislature formed in 1998 specifically rejected municipal requests to be exempted from the FOIPP legislation.)