I don't believe that the $5 fee has any influence on frivolous or vexatious requests or on abuse of the right of access. I'm a proponent for no fees.
I looked at this again last night. The last stats show that the total amount of fees collected was $367,000 overall.
I just do not see the actual efficiency in doing that. It's consistent with open government and with the open data charter that we wouldn't charge for information. It is, after all, Canadians' information. The public service is being paid to work for Canadians.
I am really not a proponent of the $5 fee. I have said this many, many times. We don't charge it in my office. We stopped charging it in 2010, and we have seen no difference in terms of the requests we get, or the number of requests, or the requesters. It has made no difference at all.