Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 3, Access to Records. Updated 5 May 2023. 149 Subsection 50(2)(a) Review or refusal to review 50(2) The commissioner may refuse to conduct a review or may discontinue a review if, in the opinion of the commissioner, the application for review: (a) is frivolous or vexatious; Subsection 52(2)(a) of FOIP provides that the Commissioner can refuse to conduct a review or discontinue one where the Commissioner is of the opinion that the request for review is frivolous or vexatious. Frivolous is typically associated with matters that are trivial or without merit, lacking a legal or factual basis or legal or factual merit; not serious; not reasonably purposeful; of little weight or importance.243 Vexatious means without reasonable or probable cause or excuse. A request is vexatious when the primary purpose of the request is not to gain access to information but to continually or repeatedly harass a government institution in order to obstruct or grind a government institution to a standstill. It is usually taken to mean with intent to annoy, harass, embarrass or cause discomfort.244 A request is not vexatious simply because a government institution is annoyed or irked because the request is for information the release of which may be uncomfortable for the government institution.245 FOIP must not become a weapon for disgruntled individuals to use against a government institution for reasons that have nothing to do with the Act.246 A vexatious proceeding means “…that the litigant’s mental state goes beyond simple animus against the other side and rises to a situation where the litigant is attempting to abuse or misuse the legal process”: Jamieson v Denman, 2004 ABQB 593 (CanLII), para 127.247 In Chutskoff v Bonora, 2014 ABQB 389 (CanLII), Michalyshyn J identified a “catalogue” of features of vexatious litigation: 1. Collateral attack. 243 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-002 at [57] to [63]. 244 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-002 at [57] to [63] and [69]. 245 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-002 at [69]. 246 BC IPC Order 110-1996 at p. 6. 247 AB IPC Request to Disregard F2019-RTD-01 at p. 13.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTgwMjYzOA==