Tag: FIPPA Act

GOVERNMENT AGENCY PROTECTING GOVERNMENT AGENCY!

What happens when you complain to the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (“OIPC”) regarding the actions of the BCSC? NOTHING!   And what happens when the OIPC office even admits in writing that the BCSC did not respond to the FOI request in the time allowed under the FIPPA Act?   NOTHING!

As some of you have probably read earlier in this blog, the FOI Staff at the BCSC has until June 6, 2016 to reply to our request for information.   They dated their letter June 7, 2016 and sent it to me on June 8, 2016 – after I had officially complained to the OIPC office via email.

On June 14, 2016, we sent a formal complaint wanting to know what was the penalty for breaching the FIPPA Act in British Columbia.    After weeks of not hearing back, we again sent another email (a second request) on July 3, 2016.   These emails can be found here:

Emails to FOI Office – June 14, 2016 and July 3, 2016

Today (July 5, 2016) we received an email back from the OIPC office which thankfully confirmed everything we complained about – they even conclude that Staff at the BCSC did not respond in the time allocated of 30 days.

However, as you can see, they conclude their letter by stating,

“With respect to your request that BCSC’s non-compliance be recorded, our letter to you dated June 9, 2016 is our confirmation that BCSC did not meet its statutory obligation to respond within the timeframe required by FIPPA. If BCSC had complied with FIPPA our office would not have written that letter.

In summary, the OIPC is unable to levy any punishment in this matter and no further action will be taken.”

Letter from FOI Office – July 4, 2016

As always – it seems there are always two sets of rules in this Province!   Why do they have the FIPPA Act if Staff at the BCSC are able to bend, twist, and outright mismanage its content?    When they don’t want to disclose information under a FOI request they sure point to the Act as a reference without delay!  Why is it different when we point the finger at them?

Patrick Egan (Director in Investigations) even admits in his letter the OIPC “is unable to levy any punishment in this matter…” and we want to know why? IF YOU DON’T HAVE A REMEDY FOR THOSE THAT BREACH THE FIPPA ACT…MAYBE IT’S TIME YOU DO!    Have you ever thought about that?? Maybe it is time for changes….and those that breach the FIPPA Act are held accountable.

It is now unfortunate –  the wording in Egan’s letter allows future breaches by government agencies to do so knowing there in NOTHING the OIPC office can (or will) do about it!   What a shame!

TIME TO WAKE UP BC!!

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING IN THE PROVINCE OF BC?

Christy

As time goes by we are learning so much about the regime in this Province.   No reply from Christie Clark’s office, no reply from the FIPPA office with respect to our questions regarding the tardiness of the reply from the BCSC.    We did get your typical “there is nothing we can do” letter from Finance Minister Michael De jong’s office which is exactly what we expected!  No one is accountable in this Province.   We hope people remember this at the time of the next election.

On June 14, 2016, we sent the following letter to the Intake Office (Ms Alison LeDuc) at the FIPPA Office in Victoria, BC.   18 days later, we still have no answers to our questions – let alone even a reply telling us to take a hike!   As you can see, our letter is non-aggressive in nature and we have tried to be very polite.

Letter to FOI Office – June 14, 2016

Why are they refusing to reply?    Are they protecting fellow government workers at the BCSC?    We will keep writing them letters until we have answers!   We will go above their heads and get someone who will answer the questions.  We will find the truth!  We are NOT going away!

IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU PEOPLE WAKE UP AND START DOING THE JOBS YOU WERE ELECTED TO DO!!

 

FOI REQUEST PROVES OUR BIGGEST FEAR

On May 11, 2016, we sent a letter to BCSC Chair BRENDA LEONG and requested she provide (to us) any correspondence between her Staff Litigators (C. Paige Leggat and Olubode Fagbamiye) and the Executive Director ( Paul Bourque ) regarding the Settlement Offer we were trying to bring forward that would possibly have brought funds back to the former investors in FCC and DCF.

As you see in this letter FOI Request #1617-0005 – Reply from BCSC – June 16, 2016.pub , Ms. Leong indicates there are no records matching my request.   We don’t even want to begin to understand why there would be NO correspondence between lawyers/clients when millions of dollars could have been at stake for the investors – how is this even possible??

Not having internal correspondence between relevant parties (considering what was at stake for the former investors) reeks of unprofessionalism by Staff and certainly does not give any confidence they truly had the best interest of the investors during all relevant times.  

That being said, Leong is either lying or (for whatever reason) there truly are NO records of correspondence between her star lawyers and their higher ups.   Either way, this translates into a huge problem for the BCSC.    Here’s why….

Assuming she is not lying, as per the Code of Ethic’s on the  Law Society of British Columbia’s website , a lawyer must present ANY settlement offer it is presented to their client to avoid hearing.  Staff DID NOT do this as they have admitted this in letters to the Respondents.   In a file of this magnitude, and with the numerous attempts by us to settle – there is not one internal document related to the settlement offer that was presented?   We truly find this hard to believe but if true – these are the people that are “protecting the capital markets in BC”???    Time for a WAKE UP CALL BRITISH COLUMBIA!!

And if she is lying then this becomes a bigger problem as she has been appointed to that position by elected government officials – more than likely Finance Minister Michael De jong or Premier Christy Clark.

In the first scenario above, we have the facts:

  • The Respondents submitted a Settlement Offer to the Commission on November 7, 2013 – Staff did not respond until December 30, 2013.
  • When  Staff did reply, they stated they had NOT taken the Settlement Offer to the Executive Director and would only do so IF we plead guilty to ALL allegations AND paid approximately $5.8 million in fines and disgorgement.
  • As of June 16, 2016, we now have it in writing that there in NO communications whatsoever between Staff and the Executive Director with respect to any discussion regarding the Settlement Offer.

As we were preparing this latest blog post – something remarkable just became VERY apparent….what is happening down at the BCSC???

Paige Leggat  (Source: mypersonaltrainervancouver.com)

C.Paige Leggat – Staff Litigator                                                                              RESIGNED OR TERMINATED IN 2014

teresa-mitchell-banks    (Source: mingpaocanada.com)

Teresa Mitchell-Banks  – Director of Enforcement                                          RESIGNED OR TERMINATED IN 2015

paul-bourque         (Source: cbc.ca)

Paul C. Bourque –  Executive Director                                                                  RESIGNED IN 2016

These are the 3 major parties that would have been responsible for negotiating, accepting or denying the settlement agreement WITH the investor in mind.

PLEASE….FORMER INVESTORS IN FCC AND DCF – HELP US GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.   AGAIN, THIS SETTLEMENT OFFER WAS NOT EVEN PRESENTED TO THE ONLY PERSON THAT COULD HAVE ACCEPTED IT ON YOUR BEHALF!      

******CONTACT THE BCSC AND FIND OUT WHY!******

604-899-5600 or email them at: inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca 

IF THEY DON’T ANSWER YOU, GO ABOVE THEIR HEADS AND CONTACT YOUR LOCAL MLA OR OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL!  ITS VITAL! 

 

STAFF AT BCSC IN BREACH OF THE FIPPA ACT?

On April 22, 2016 – under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”), the Respondents sent a request regarding our matter with the BCSC.    As per their FIPPA’s policy, a person requesting the information has to send it directly to the agency that would have the records – in this case the BCSC.

We sent it directly to email address foi-privacy@bcsc.bc.ca as the BCSC website dictates.   On April 26, 2016, we received confirmation of our letter being received by Michelle Cook (who has a big fancy title – the Assistant Secretary to the Commission/Office of the Chair):

Letter #1 from FOI Office – April 26, 2016.pub

As you see in this letter, the writer indicates that “law” allows for 30 days for them to reply to our request and that we could expect a reply on (or before) June 6, 2016.

It is now 8:30 PM PST and the Respondents have yet to receive a reply to our FOI request – how is this even possible?   How can Staff at the BCSC breach the FIPPA Act without consequences or without notifying the Respondents of any delay?

We have 3 additional request into the FOI Staff at the BCSC and we certainly hope that they govern themselves under the laws of the FIPPA Act!  This includes a FOI request that is due on June 9, 2016.

The BCSC is NOT above the law and formal complaints will now be sent to the FIPPA Commissionaire outlining our concerns.   It is time the people at the BCSC wake up and become accountable for their lack of attention to detail – this reminds us very much of the investigation and hearing process a couple of years ago….

  • The wrong date on the Notice of Hearing;
  • Typos in Investigator Chan’s notes that they relied upon during the hearing;
  • Wrong name typed into Will-Statement that the Respondents were to rely on;
  • Staff secretary (Colette Colter) sending vital emails to the wrong email address;
  • and so on and so on!

Who are they accountable to?    Who governs the BCSC?