Section 6.1 that Ms. Charette is referring to is a new section of the act, which allows any institution, not just the Privy Council, that receives a complaint or access request that it considers abusive or frivolous to ask me for permission not to respond to it. Such a request is legal and is part of the process put in place following the passage of former Bill C-58.
I can't speak to the request itself because we haven't responded to it yet. However, I can tell you that this process was put in place to prevent institutions from rejecting such requests on their own initiative. They have to ask the Information Commissioner for permission. The Office of the Commissioner then reviews the institution's request and the requester's request to see whether they comply with the wording of subsection 6.1(1).