NL Government: Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2020-020 Released

September 18, 2020

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael Harvey, has released his Report A-2020-020 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015. A summary of the Report is included below.

To view the Report in its entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/reports/commissionerOpens in new window

Report:           A-2020-020
Report Date: September 16, 2020
Public Body:  Intergovernmental and Indigenous Affairs Secretariat (IIAS)

Summary:      The Intergovernmental and Indigenous Affairs Secretariat (IIAS) received an access request for records, referenced in a published document, which the requester believed would be in the custody of the IIAS. IIAS provided some records which it had determined were publicly available, stated that it did not have custody of some others, and refused to disclose the rest on the ground that disclosure would harm the business interests of the Third Party under section 39 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“ATIPPA, 2015”). The Complainant filed a complaint with this Office, arguing that IIAS had not shown that the records were not publicly available, and that it was unlikely that the section 39 test could be met. The Commissioner found that while it could not be presumed that the withheld records were publicly available, IIAS had not provided sufficient evidence to meet the burden of proof under section 39. The Commissioner also concluded that IIAS should not be permitted to claim additional exceptions during this Office’s investigation, and recommended that the records be disclosed. The Commissioner also recommended that IIAS review its access to information procedures.

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