He's still waiting for FOI records Toronto police said he could have last summer, requested in 2020

Nicole Brockbank · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Jamie Jelinski feels a spot similar David — and the Toronto constabulary are his Goliath. 

The occupation is, he's disquieted that this clip Goliath mightiness win.

Jelinski filed a state of accusation (FOI) petition to Toronto constabulary successful June 2020 for records concerning the facial designation exertion Clearview AI aft the constabulary work admitted to utilizing the arguable instrumentality opening successful October 2019 and committed to halt utilizing it successful February of the pursuing year. 

Jelinski said helium filed the petition hoping to larn however Clearview AI is utilized successful signifier — each portion of his probe into ocular recognition techniques and technologies utilized by Canadian instrumentality enforcement. But astir 5 years later, the ocular civilization student inactive hasn't received each of the responsive records, contempt paying constabulary much than $200 for the remaining 1,100 pages of emails past July. 

"To maine it suggests they don't respect the authorities that they're expected to beryllium operating within, they don't respect nationalist transparency," said Jelinski, who is present a lecturer successful the University of Liverpool's section of connection and media.

"If they didn't mean connected disclosing this to maine past year, they should not person accepted my money."

In Ontario, nationalist institutions similar constabulary services are taxable to provincial oregon municipal state of accusation and extortion of privateness laws. The authorities requires institutions to contented a determination for FOI requests wrong 30 days and to disclose the records if entree is granted successful that timeframe, with a fewer exceptions. 

FOI experts told CBC Toronto that Jelinski's acquisition highlights wherefore Ontario's entree to accusation authorities needs to beryllium modernized — and wherefore it needs to see tools to enforce legislated timeframes and its ain orders to disclose records.

If the requester of accusation disagrees with an institution's determination oregon believes it has failed to conscionable legislated timeframes, they tin taxable an entreaty to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC). 

3 appeals for 1 request

Jelinski has submitted 3 IPC appeals for this request. The first, due to the fact that Toronto constabulary primitively denied him entree to immoderate records. Then, aft winning that entreaty successful 2023, helium filed 1 successful 2024 erstwhile Toronto constabulary failed to contented him a last determination missive astir whether he'd person entree to the documents. He filed the 3rd entreaty earlier this year, due to the fact that helium hadn't received the records helium paid for past summer. 

"I person to unit them done the IPC each measurement of the way," said Jelinski. 

In effect to his astir caller appeal, the privateness commissioner asked Toronto constabulary to springiness Jelinski copies of the records by April 24. The work didn't conscionable that deadline. So successful an email past week, the IPC told Jelinski it would contented an bid to disclose the records.

CBC Toronto asked constabulary wherefore Jelinski's petition has taken truthful long, wherefore it didn't conscionable the astir caller deadline from the privateness commissioner — and erstwhile it is that constabulary mean to supply Jelinski with the records he's paid for.

Police accidental immoderate records released

The work declined an interrogation request, but successful an email, a spokesperson said definite records person already been released to Jelinski and noted the ongoing IPC mediation process.

"The Toronto Police Service has requested an hold connected this file," said spokesperson Stephanie Sayer successful the email. "Any updates are being communicated to the requester done the IPC."

Jelinski received immoderate records successful February 2022 and 1 further grounds successful 2023 aft winning his archetypal entreaty but hasn't received the rest. As of Wednesday, the IPC had yet to contented the bid to Toronto constabulary to disclose the records. 

But adjacent erstwhile it does, Jelinski worries constabulary won't comply and that past his lone options would beryllium to hold oregon instrumentality constabulary to court, which is expensive.

"They tin conscionable disregard it, and thing happens to them," helium said. "There needs to beryllium immoderate updating of the legislation."

Why enforcement isn't easy

Even though IPC orders are legally binding, a erstwhile IPC adjunct commissioner says the Ontario oversight assemblage doesn't person a straightforward mode to enforce them, dissimilar successful immoderate different provinces. 

"This concern is benignant of distressing, due to the fact that it truly shouldn't beryllium the lawsuit that enforcement falls backmost onto the shoulders of the requester," said David Goodis, an entree and privateness lawyer who worked for the IPC for 30 years until aboriginal 2021.

"Some of the much modern FOI laws let people, commissioners — truly anyone — to record commissioner orders with the tribunal truthful that they're enforceable arsenic a tribunal order. And that tin marque a difference." 

Both B.C. and Alberta's entree to accusation laws person that provision, according to Goodis. To follow a akin mechanism, the lawyer said the Ontario legislature would person to amend the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy and Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy acts.

Premier Doug Ford's bureau did not respond to questions astir whether his authorities is considering specified changes.

"What we're talking astir is fixing the enactment to woody with these outlier cases," said Goodis. "In my experience, this is truly rare."

While these cases aren't the norm, nationalist argumentation researcher and FOI adept Ken Rubin said he's seeing this benignant of effect much and much often erstwhile helium files requests.

"Review commissions don't precisely person penalty-making power," helium said. "I deliberation definite agencies person realized that, and truthful either they disregard [requesters] oregon they conscionable resistance it out."

Both Goodis and Rubin said the astir five-year hold Jelinski is facing is mode excessively long. 

Complexity and measurement of requests a challenge

A caller Toronto Police Service Board study Sayer provided to CBC outlines the service's FOI statistic for 2024 and the hurdles it's facing successful responding to requests.

"Meeting the mandated 30-day compliance outlined successful Section 19 of the Act continues to beryllium challenging," reads the study submitted by Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw.

"This is chiefly owed to the fig and complexity of the requests, the type, mean and measurement of the records being requested and [the] needed consultation with interior and outer stakeholders for definite requests."

Last year, Toronto constabulary received 5,414 FOI requests — 403 much than it did successful 2023. There were besides 758 requests carried implicit to this twelvemonth from 2024. The service's mean compliance complaint for completing requests wrong the mandated 30-day timeframe was 73.6 per cent past year, down astir 3 percent points from 2023.

So what does this hold mean for Jelinski? 

His acquisition with this FOI petition and others inspired him to constitute a publication astir however his chap ocular scholars tin usage entree requests, which helium says are seldom utilized for probe successful his field. But Jelinski can't decorativeness the publication until helium gets these records.

"It's a cardinal lawsuit study," helium said. "I can't constitute up that section without the documents."