The Ombudsman found that a small portion of a closed session discussion held by council for the Township of Lake of Bays about the impact on staff of handling Freedom of Information requests did not fit within the open meeting exception for requests made under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) because council did not substantively discuss the requests, but merely mentioned their existence.
Section 239(3) of the Municipal Act, 2001 requires that a meeting be closed to the public if the subject matter relates to the consideration of a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) if council is the head of an institution for the purposes of that Act. The Ombudsman has found that it is not necessary that a formal request for information be made for the exception to apply. Rather, the process for requesting personal information may be commenced informally. In those cases, the exception nonetheless applies.
There are currently no public cases under this exception.