Chad Skelton, Reporter

The Vancouver Sun

1-200 Granville St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N3
cskelton@vancouversun.com
Nov. 26, 2014
Office of the Information and Privacy
Commissioner for British Columbia
PO Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC V8W 9A4
info@oipc.bc.ca
To whom it may concern:
I am writing you to request a review of the North Vancouver School Districts decision to refuse
to grant me a public-interest fee waiver for the $90 it has assessed for my Freedom of
Information request. That request was for a spreadsheet containing remuneration and job-title
data for all district staff earning more than $75,000.
I have attached my original request, and my fee-waiver request, to this document, along with
the districts response refusing to grant me a fee waiver.
I will not repeat all the arguments I made in my original fee-waiver request for why I believe
such a waiver should be granted. However, as noted in my request, The Suns public-sector
salary database has been viewed several million times by readers over the past several years,
demonstrating the intense public interest in how much public-sector workers are paid.
And, as former Information Commissioner David Loukidelis himself has noted, the way public
agencies typically provide remuneration data without job titles attached is of little use to
the public in assessing if a given public-sector workers pay is justified.
Please review this matter. If you have any further questions, I can be reached at 604-605-2892
or cskelton@vancouversun.com.
Sincerely,

Chad Skelton, Reporter

The Vancouver Sun

From: Skelton, Chad (Vancouver Sun)

Sent: October-31-14 12:36 PM
To: 'info@nvsd44.bc.ca'; 'gallison@nvsd44.bc.ca'
Subject: FOI request

Chad Skelton, Reporter

The Vancouver Sun
1-200 Granville St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N3
cskelton@vancouversun.com
Oct. 31, 2014
FOI Coordinator
To whom it may concern::
Please confirm receipt of this FOI in an email to cskelton@vancouversun.com. Thank you.
Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, please provide me with:
In electronic database format, the name, title, department, remuneration and expenses for all
staff earning more than $75,000 for the 2013-14 fiscal year or the 2013 calendar year.
Please also include any remuneration provided to corporate directors (if your agency has a
board) and/or elected politicians (ie. mayors, councillors, MLAs, school trustees), even if those
individuals earned less than $75,000.
Please specify in your response which time period the figures relate to (ie. the 2013 calendar
year or 2013-14 fiscal year). If your agency has any wholly owned subsidiaries, please either
include those salaries in your response or provide a separate spreadsheet for that subsidiary.
I am requesting this information in standard electronic database format (Excel, Access or CSV). I
do NOT want the data in a PDF file or on a paper. I would like each staff members
remuneration on a separate row with the different fields (name, position, salary, expenses) in
adjoining columns. If information on each staff members title is not held in the same place as
their salary and your IT staff are unable to join the two types of data please provide me
with two separate sets of data, one with salaries, the other with titles and departments, with
some unique identifier (such as an employee number) that we can use to cross-reference the
two sets of data.
I draw your attention to the following 2010 order by the Information and Privacy
Commissioner, which, in our view, clearly states (in paragraph 16) that public bodies are
required to provide records in electronic format if doing so would not pose an unreasonable
burden on their operations:

http://www.oipc.bc.ca/orders/962
The Vancouver Sun has made nearly identical data requests to several government agencies
over the last several years.
By remuneration, we mean the definition used in B.C.s Financial Information Act: namely, all
compensation and taxable benefits received by an employee in that year. This is the same as
the figure recorded in Box 14 of an employees T4 slip.
In processing this request, I draw your attention to Section (22)(4)(e) of the Act, which states
that a disclosure of personal information is not an unreasonable invasion of a third party's
personal privacy if ... (e) the information is about the third party's position, functions or
remuneration as an officer, employee or member of a public body or as a member of a
minister's staff.
When the data is ready for release, please e-mail it to me at cskelton@vancouversun.com or
mail it to me on a CD or USB stick. If you have any concerns, please phone me at (604)605-2892.
Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chad Skelton, Data Journalist

The Vancouver Sun
cskelton@vancouversun.com

CHAD SKELTON
Data Journalist
The Vancouver Sun
Suite 1 200, Granville St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N3
Office: 604.605.2892
Email: cskelton@vancouversun.com
Twitter: @chadskelton
Websites: The Data Trail | Data Central
PLEASE NOTE: I work Wednesdays to Fridays and do not check email regularly on Mondays and
Tuesdays.

vancouversun.com

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential, and is only intended for the party to whom it
is addressed. Any other use, dissemination, distribution, disclosure or copying is prohibited. If you have
received this email in error please so inform by reply email. Thank you.

From: Stephen Wurz [mailto:swurz@sd44.ca]

Sent: November-07-14 11:31 AM
To: Skelton, Chad (Vancouver Sun)
Cc: Georgia Allison
Subject: Information Request

Dear Mr. Skelton,

Thank you for your message of October 31, 2014 requesting, in electronic database format, the name,
title, department, remuneration and expenses for all staff earning more than $75,000 for the 2013-14
fiscal year or the 2013 calendar year and any remuneration provided to trustees.
As you know, the specific format you have requested puts our staff to additional work above and beyond
what is required by regulation. Schedule 1 of the regulation
(http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/155_2012#Schedule1) sets out
the fees that are payable for this work. For this reason, we require The Vancouver Sun to cover the
costs of this work, in accordance with the regulation, as we are not funded to accommodate this burden
on our operations. Our financial services, including the provision of information, are structured to meet
all regulatory requirements and support teaching and learning within our school district. The Vancouver
Sun is an independent, third-party, for profit corporation and the work you are requesting is a business
expense.
We would like to remind you of your outstanding invoice (attached for your convenience) for the work
done to prepare last year's data for you in the format you require. Upon remittance of this amount, and
confirmation of The Vancouver Sun's agreement to pay the amount estimated for this year's three (3)
hours of work ($90), we will schedule our staff to prepare the data in the format you requested.
Should this not be agreeable to you, we are happy to provide you with a link to the SOFI report, as
prepared every year to meet government regulations, upon its completion at the end of this year.
Sincerely,
Stephen Wurz, CPA, CA
Director, Financial Services
North Vancouver School District #44
2121 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver, BC V7M 2K6
swurz@sd44.ca
tel: 604.903.3470
www.sd44.ca
"the natural place to learn"

From: Skelton, Chad (Vancouver Sun) [mailto:CSkelton@vancouversun.com]

Sent: Friday, November 14, 2014 9:59 AM
To: Stephen Wurz
Cc: Georgia Allison
Subject: Public interest fee waiver request

Mr. Wurz:
Please see the attached request for a public-interest fee waiver in this case. Please also note that, as
specified in the waiver request, if the district is unwilling to grant the fee waiver I do NOT want it to
process the request and then attempt to invoice me. Instead, I will appeal the decision to the
Information Commissioner.

Chad Skelton, Reporter

The Vancouver Sun
1-200 Granville St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N3
cskelton@vancouversun.com
Nov. 14, 2014
Stephen Wurz
North Vancouver School District
I am writing you in response to your email of Nov. 7, 2014 assessing me a fee of $90 for my
Freedom of Information request for the remuneration data of all North Vancouver School
District employees earning more than $75,000, including each employees job title, in electronic
database format (i.e. an Excel spreadsheet or CSV).
I am requesting a fee waiver on the basis that the records I am requesting concern a matter of
public interest. I am not requesting a fee waiver based on my inability to pay.
Please note that if this fee waiver request is refused I do not intend to pay the fee and will,
instead, appeal the districts decision to the Office of the Information and Privacy
Commissioner. In the absence of a fee waiver, I do not want the School District to go ahead and
process the request and then attempt to invoice me as it did last year -- something I believe
the district has no legal authority to do under the Act.
To help you in assessing my request for a fee waiver, I have made my argument using the twostep manner suggested by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in Order 0124:
STEP ONE: Do the records relate to a matter of public interest?
(a) Is there evidence that the subject of the records has been a matter of recent public debate?

Since The Vancouver Sun first launched its online public-sector salary database in 2008, it has
received more than 16 million page views, making it the most popular feature on The Suns
website. The stories that accompany the database each year also generates significant letters
to the editor and online comments, demonstrating the publics acute interest in how much
public servants are earning.
(b) Does the subject of the records relate to the environment, public health or safety or any
other matter of public interest?
Knowing how much public servants are earning is a key part of government transparency, which
is why the government mandates, through the Financial Information Act, that all public
agencies publish the remuneration of those earning more than $75,000. The Suns database
improves this transparency in two key ways: First, by making the data easily accessible and
searchable in an online database. Second, by including job title information (which the FIA does
not require), making it easier for members of the public to determine whether a salary is
justified or not and to compare how the earnings of those in similar positions differ across
agencies.
In the story that launched The Suns salary database in 2008, then-B.C. Information and Privacy
Commissioner David Loukidelis said that people need to know how taxpayer dollars are being
used and stressed that providing salary data without job titles was of limited public benefit.
People revolve in and out of positions, he said. So saying David Loukidelis gets 'X' without
saying what he does doesnt tell you very much.
(c) Is there evidence that use or dissemination of the records would yield a public benefit by
... contributing to a public understanding or debate on an important policy, law,
program or services or other issue
This information would assist the public generally, and North Vancouver residents specifically,
in learning how much the school districts staff are being paid and allow them to determine
based on the job titles of those employees if those salaries are justified.
STEP TWO: Dissemination of information
(a) Is the applicant's primary purpose for making the request to use or disseminate the
information in a way that can reasonably be expected to benefit the public or is the primary
purpose to serve a private interest?
This request is being made solely in my capacity as a reporter with The Vancouver Sun, with the
intention of adding the information to a public, searchable online database of public-sector
salaries. There is no private or personal interest involved in this request.
(b) Is the applicant able to disseminate the information to the public?

As a staff reporter with The Vancouver Sun, I am able to publish articles containing any
newsworthy information these records contain. The intention is for this salary and job title data
to be added to The Suns online database where it is searchable by the general public.
OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS:
(a) Did the applicant, viewed reasonably, cooperate or work constructively with the public
body, where the public body so requested during the processing of the access request,
including by narrowing or clarifying the access request where it was reasonable to do so?
As specified on my original FOI request, I have offered if the school district is unable to match
up its remuneration data with jobs titles for it to instead provide me with two spreadsheets:
one with remuneration, the other with job titles, so that I can match them up myself. The
district has not taken me up on this offer.
(b) Has the applicant unreasonably rejected a proposal by the public body that would reduce
the costs of responding to the access request?
No.
(d) How did the public body attempt to respond to the request in light of the public body's
duties under s. 6 of the Act?
I believe the districts refusal to provide its staff directory in electronic format, a decision I
believe it has no legal justification for, violates its duty to make every reasonable effort to assist
the applicant.
(e) Would the waiver of the fee shift an unreasonable cost burden for responding from the
applicant to the public body?
No. The costs involved here are minor ($90). And, indeed, I believe the districts estimate of the
time it would take to produce this record is exaggerated. The district estimates it would take six
hours to match job titles to the salary data. However, North Vancouver School District provided
me with a complete spreadsheet containing the names, job titles and remuneration of its
employees for four years running without incident and without demanding a fee of any kind.
The district has not explained to me why, suddenly beginning last year, something that it was
able to do for free for years is now a major technical undertaking.
Please not that if my request for a fee waiver is refused, I intend to file a complaint with the
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Sincerely,

Chad Skelton, Reporter

The Vancouver Sun

CHAD SKELTON
Data Journalist
The Vancouver Sun
Suite 1 200, Granville St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N3
Office: 604.605.2892
Email: cskelton@vancouversun.com
Twitter: @chadskelton
Websites: The Data Trail | Data Central
PLEASE NOTE: I work Wednesdays to Fridays and do not check email regularly on Mondays and
Tuesdays.

vancouversun.com
The information contained in this email is strictly confidential, and is only intended for the party to whom it
is addressed. Any other use, dissemination, distribution, disclosure or copying is prohibited. If you have
received this email in error please so inform by reply email. Thank you.

From: Stephen Wurz [mailto:swurz@sd44.ca]

Sent: November-17-14 2:16 PM
To: Skelton, Chad (Vancouver Sun)
Cc: Georgia Allison; Victoria Miles; John Lewis
Subject: RE: Public interest fee waiver request
Dear Mr. Skelton:
Thank you for the fee waiver request in connection with your request for remuneration data provided in
the format specified in your earlier correspondence. As you are aware, salary information of our staff is
made publicly available in compliance with all legislative requirements on an annual basis. The fee
assigned to your request is to cover the costs of preparing the information in the format and with the
level of detail and accuracy that you require.
For this reason, we respectfully decline your request for a fee waiver.
Sincerely,
Stephen Wurz, CPA, CA
Director, Financial Services
North Vancouver School District #44
2121 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver, BC V7M 2K6
swurz@sd44.ca
tel: 604.903.3470
www.sd44.ca
"the natural place to learn"