Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to LA FOIP, Chapter3, Access to Records. Updated 5 May 2023. 146 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 local authority in order to obstruct or grind a local authority to a standstill. It is usually taken to mean with intent to annoy, harass, embarrass or cause discomfort.238 A request is not vexatious simply because a local authority is annoyed or irked because the request is for information the release of which may be uncomfortable for the local authority.239 LA FOIP must not become a weapon for disgruntled individuals to use against a local authority for reasons that have nothing to do with the Act.240 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 127.241 In Chutskoff v Bonora, 2014 ABQB 389 (CanLII), Michalyshyn J identified a “catalogue” of features of vexatious litigation: 1. Collateral attack. 2. Hopeless proceedings. 3. Escalating proceedings. 4. Bringing proceedings for improper purposes. 5. Initiating “busybody” lawsuits to enforce alleged rights of third parties. 6. Failure to honour court-ordered obligations. 7. Persistently taking unsuccessful appeals from judicial decisions. 8. Persistently engaging in inappropriate courtroom behavior. 9. Unsubstantiated allegations of conspiracy, fraud, and misconduct. 10. Scandalous or inflammatory language in pleadings or before the court. 11. Advancing “Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument.” Any of these indicia are a basis to classify a legal action as vexatious.242 238 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-002 at [57] to [63] and [69]. 239 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-002 at [69]. 240 BC IPC Order 110-1996 at p. 6. 241 AB IPC Request to Disregard F2019-RTD-01 at p. 13. 242 Chutskoff v Bonora, 2014 ABQB 389 (CanLII) at [93]. See also AB IPC Request to Disregard F2019-RTD01 at p. 13.
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