The public body charged with regulating financial transactions in the capital markets and cryptocurrency has yet to find a way to accept e-transfers and credit cards for the new $10 fee it charges for applications for information.
Instead, the B.C. Securities Commission demands anyone making a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to send a cheque to its offices in downtown Vancouver. If one does not have a cheque, the commission’s proposed alternative is for the applicant to send the $10 via wire transfer.
“It's just laughable that in a modern era of electronic payment mechanisms that they require you to do this by cheque, by wire transfer,” said Jason Woywada, executive director of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (BC FIPA).
“What I find so ironic about this is the B.C. Securities Commission is the body charged with overseeing all of the corporate governance of public companies across the province. They accept fees from corporations on a regular basis. There’s got to be all sorts of mechanisms that they are using to process transactions and track things electronically, to make it easier for corporations to file, and yet for the public to gain access to information there's all sorts of barriers in their way,” said Woywada.
It wasn’t until 2021 that public bodies were allowed to charge an application fee under the act. The BC NDP government introduced the fee under new regulations. The commission is among a number of B.C. public bodies, such as Crown corporations and municipalities, to apply the new fee, although it could choose not to.
Glacier Media had filed a request for information under the act on June 18. A representative of the commission requested a cheque be sent to the commission on West Hastings Street in Vancouver. But when a reporter informed the commission they did not have a cheque, the commission’s only alternative provided was to send a wire transfer.
Under the act, a public body does not have to start looking for information until it receives payment. It then has 30 days to respond.
Woywada said the commission has been on BC FIPA’s radar since introducing the application fee and that it is “the poster child for a bad actor that limits ability to pay.”
And, said Woywada, “for a public body as important as the B.C. Securities Commission to say that they can't accept any payment other than check or wire transfer is ridiculous.”
Woywada noted that when it filed a request to the commission recently, the commission charged BC FIPA its side of the wire transfer fee, thus costing BC FIPA $40 for the transfer in addition to the $10 fee.
Glacier Media was also informed that a reporter could pay by cash but they needed to schedule a time to drop it off at the front desk, in order to get a receipt of payment.
“Monty Python sketches are more reasonable,” said Woywada.
The application fee has raised a number of concerns, said Woywada, explaining that the fee effectively prohibits or discourages the public from accessing government information and appears, as in the case of the commission, to actually add work for the bureaucracy.
Woywada said there are no regulations stipulating method of payment, following introduction of the fee.
“They've got any arbitrary way they want to collect. We've asked them if they want carrier pigeons,” said Woywada, tongue in cheek.
The application fee has been subject to criticism from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
“Many public bodies have not developed criteria for when not to charge or to refund the fee where fairness warrants. In other cases, public bodies do not accept certain payment methods, which has the practical effect of denying access,” noted then commissioner Michael McEvoy in January 2023.
Woywada said the fee is compounding pre-existing barriers to the freedom of information system, which is already plagued by illegal delays and obstruction with little accountability.
“From a public perspective, what are they trying to hide? Why is it that they're making it so difficult to get information from them?” asked Woywada of the commission.
“Are they trying to protect and hide the activities of corporations from the public? If the answer to that is no, then they need to make it easier for the public to get access to information from them and that includes freedom of information requests,” said Woywada.
Glacier Media forwarded its concerns, via email, to the commission’s CEO Brenda Leong but did not receive a reply.
Glacier Media requested to speak to Minister of Citizens’ Services George Chow; however, Chow did not respond via a ministry spokesperson.
