Mar 4, 2011

Manitoba's Ombudsman has released an audit report to Manitobans about the performance of Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) in meeting the time requirements to respond to applications for access under The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).          

The audit included a review of 65 FIPPA files completed by MPI in 2009 in order to assess the timeliness of responses to applicants. Of the 65 files, 44 or 68% were in compliance with time requirements. The Ombudsman made two recommendations to MPI as 100% compliance with time frames to respond to an applicant as set out in FIPPA is required. To assist MPI and other public bodies in meeting the time requirements of the Act, included in the appendix of the report is a Guideline on Time Frames for Processing a FIPPA Request.

FIPPA establishes the right of complaint by an applicant about a public body's failure to respond to a request. Complaints about delayed responses constitute more than 40% of all FIPPA access complaints received by the Ombudsman over the last five years. Of these "failure to respond" complaints, about 75% were supported. Despite the challenges of meeting FIPPA's mandatory time frames, public bodies are required to comply. The Ombudsman will continue to conduct timeliness audits on an occasional basis and release the results publicly.