The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) does not know if public bodies, the UBCM, and the Municipal Finance Authority, fall under Freedom of Information legislation.
By Sasha Izard
Oct 24, 2025
You know it’s bad when the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) can’t figure out if public bodies are subject to Freedom of Information legislation.
This is how bad things have gotten with a festering lack of accountability and transparency with local governments, their organizations, and the Province – that makes British Columbia look like nothing other than a dysfunctional banana republic. Except we don’t sell bananas. We sell real estate.
Calling it a real estate republic however, would imply that the public have input in the political process, which at this point with most public hearings eliminated in the Province, and even elected officials being forced to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements during ‘consultations’ with the Province, is a joke in itself.
I guess all that we’re left with is real estate, after all the old growth forests that the Province was famous for, are pretty much all gone, and what grows in their stead, a healthy forest? It’s easier to sell bare land, which there is now plenty of and which as was shown in a recent article is not subject to the misleadingly titled “Foreign Buyer’s Ban”. If no bare land is available, the owner simply knocks down whatever buildings are on site, and then qualifies to be exempt.
Offshore on shore? Prime ecological land on the shore of Oak Bay, up for sale for over 50 million dollars – reveals giant Elephant in the Room loophole in the so-called “Foreign Buyers Ban”. – CRD Watch Homepage
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The OIPC is confused.
“Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore.” – HAL (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Earlier in the month, I contacted the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) asking if it is possible to send an FOI request to it.
UBCM did not respond.
On Oct 20, 2025 I emailed the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC):
Hello OIPC,
I am inquiring as to whether the Union of BC Municipalities is subject to FOIPPA requirements, i.e. can a member of the public submit an FOI request to it?
Thank you,
Sasha Izard
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2 days later the OIPC responded:
Good morning, Sasha,
UBCM is a public body and falls under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
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I replied:
Hello,
Thank you for response.
How do I send an FOI to UBCM?
Thank you,
Sasha Izard
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Dear Sasha Izard,
We recommend looking through a public body’s website and trying to identify a privacy officer. If you cannot identify the privacy officer, you can submit your request through their general email and ask for it to be directed to the privacy officer.
Please refer to our webpage How do I request records? and our infographic Tips for Requesting Records for guidance on how to submit an FOI request.
Kind regards,
OIPC Intake Team
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Hi OIPC,
Thank you. I couldn’t find information about it on UBCM’s website, nor any listing for a Privacy Officer. When I contacted UBCM and asked them if I can send an FOI to them, they never responded.
– Sasha
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Digging through my emails, I found an email that the OIPC had sent to me on Dec 9, 2024 whence I had also asked, if FOIs can be sent to the organization:
Hello Sasha,
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) legislation does not cover UBCM. As such, UBCM neither processes requests under the legislation regarding its operations nor processes FOI requests that are directed toward those bodies covered by the legislation, such as the provincial government.
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96165_02#section5
Cheers,
Raelene
________________
Raelene Adamson, Office Administrator
Union of BC Municipalities
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I replied to that email on Dec 9, 2024:
Hi Raelene,
Thank you for letting me know.
Is it possible to find out for example, which grants UBCM has provided to local governments?
Thank you,
Sasha
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After my question for some basic transparency from the organization, Raelene of UBCM fell silent.
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UBCM and the OIPC had provided completely contradicting information as to whether or not UBCM falls under Freedom of Information legislation (FOIPPA).
I forwarded the email from UBCM, that claimed “The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) legislation does not cover UBCM. ” to the OIPC:
Hello OIPC,
I was recently informed by the OIPC that UBCM as they are a public body is subject to FOIPPA and is thus FOIable, yet I’ve forwarded an email from them from last year, where UBCM denied that that it is subject to FOIPPA.
Is UBCM subject to FOIPPa and is it FOIable or not?
Thank you again,
Sasha
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On a different but closely related subject, I also emailed the OIPC:
Hello OIPC,
Is the Municipal Finance Authority subject to FOIPPA, and can an FOI request be send to them?
Thank you,
Sasha Izard
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Good afternoon, Sasha,
We do not have a list of public bodies outside of schedules 2 and 3 included in FIPPA.
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96165_00_multi#Schedule2
This list is not always up to date.
I apologize if our response was incorrect and UBCM state they do not fall under FIPPA. The best course of action moving forward is to please reach out to the public body or organization directly and ask them which legislation they fall under.
If you make a request for records which fall under FIPPA and you do not agree with the response (ie: the response is that they do not fall under FIPPA), you may ask our office for a review. In that case a file would be opened and determined if they fall under PIPA or FIPPA, which falls outside of the scope of this email service.
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I responded:
Thank you for your response.
How do I find out if a public body falls under FOIPPA or not? As you noted the current list of public bodies which fall under FOIPPA is not up to date, nor are all that fall under it included in the list.
– Sasha
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Conclusion:
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) claimed that UBCM falls under Freedom of Information legislation (FOIPPA), then when I showed the OIPC an email from UBCM that claimed that the organization does not fall under FOIPPA, the OIPC switched to apologize that they might have been incorrect, yet they haven’t figured out the answer as to question, which is, does UBCM fall under FOIPPA?
The Union of BC Municipalities is a public body under Provincial authority. It is setup to serve as a conduit between local governments and the Province of British Columbia. By every measure they are a public body, yet if they are not covered by Freedom of Information legislation, then there is a major lack of transparency and accountability with this public organization.
Or maybe, they are covered by Freedom of Information legislation, if to take the OIPC’s original words that they are. If so, then UBCM will not be in compliance with the Act, if they do not respond to an FOI request that I have made. Non-compliance to the Act by a public body subject to it, is illegal.
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See also:
CRD Watch Homepage 
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