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Document
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PO-1826
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of the Environment
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Summary
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BACKGROUND: Introduction This appeal stems from a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) by counsel on behalf of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (the appellant) on December 1, 1998 for access to information relating to organizations found by the Ministry of the Environment (the Ministry) to be in non-compliance with a prescribed control order, certificate of approval, policy, guideline, statute or regulation. The appellant sought information about both municipalities and companies, relating to both air and water discharges, for the years 1997 and 1998. The appellant indicated that in Order P-1557, which involved a request for similar information, Adjudicator Holly Big Canoe had determined that all access fees should be waived and, therefore, the Ministry should waive the fees for this request as well. At some point during the month of December, 1998, the appellant and Ministry officials spoke by telephone about this request. The purpose of this discussion was to clarify and/or modify the scope of the request, and to resolve any timing of access issues. Later, during the month of January, 1999, the appellant and the Ministry exchanged correspondence in a continuing effort to reach an understanding on what information was to be disclosed, and when. It appears that the parties had a mutual interest in working cooperatively to reach an informal agreement which would not require strict adherence to the procedures set out in the Act . The parties appeared to have an understanding that by narrowing the scope of her request to include only summary information, the appellant would receive information in a more timely way, and the Ministry would be put to less time and effort in responding to the request. Content of the agreement Based on my review of this correspondence and the representations of the parties, it is my view that as of the end of January, 1999, the Ministry agreed to provide the appellant with the following information in accordance with the following timetable: 1. Table listing the names of companies or municipalities found by the Ministry to be in non-compliance with a limit prescribed by a control order, certificate of approval, policy, guideline, statute or regulation as a result of water discharge for 1997, together with 10 other categories of information (see paragraph 5 below), by February 26, 1999. 2. Table listing the names of companies or municipalities found by the Ministry to be in non-compliance as a result of air discharge for May 3, 1997 to December 31, 1997, together with the 10 other categories of information, by February 26, 1999. 3. Table listing the names of companies or municipalities found by the Ministry to be in non-compliance as a result of water discharge for 1998, together with the 10 other categories of information, by July 1, 1999. 4. Table listing the names of companies or municipalities found by the Ministry to be in non-compliance as a result of air discharge for 1998, together with the 10 other categories of information, by July 1, 1999. 5. 10 categories of information as follows: (i) location of company plant (either address or municipality); (ii) Ministry District Office company reports to; (iii) type of discharge; (iv) parameter of non-compliance; (v) limit of parameter; (vi) value of non-compliant parameter; (vii) date of non-compliance; (viii) whether non-compliance is of daily, weekly, monthly or annual total or average or other parameter; (ix) instrument containing limit of parameter; and (x) whether company or municipality is subject to investigation or prosecution (by March 26, 1999). It was also agreed that, at the Ministry's discretion, multiple non-compliances could be grouped together, as long as the range of dates and the highest level of non-compliance were indicated. In addition, the Ministry, at its discretion, could provide comments indicating the unique features of any particular non-compliance example. The Ministry and the appellant implicitly agreed (and later confirmed) that the Ministry would not claim an exemption under the Act for any of the above-listed information. It was further agreed that, on the basis of the summaries, the appellant could request more detailed information about specific companies or municipalities, and these requests would be treated as part of the original request, and would not have to be made through the Ministry's Freedom of Information Office as new requests under the Act . There is, however, disagreement over the extent to which additional information could be requested in this regard. The appellant takes the view that this aspect covered any information relating to these organizations, while the Ministry is of the view that this part of the agreement was intended only to cover "verification" information. Events subsequent to the agreement During the month of March, the cooperative relationship between the appellant and the Ministry began to break down. The appellant wrote to the Ministry stating that she believed the Ministry was not adhering to its time commitments. The appellant and Ministry's officials then spoke by telephone, and on March 18, 1999, the appellant again wrote to the Ministry setting out her continuing concerns. The Ministry replied by indicating that the records "are not ready [for] disclosure at this time" and that "[w]hile I anticipated that the information would be released by February 26, 1999, unfortunately, the date was too ambitious." On April 6, 1999, the appellant wrote to this office setting out her version of events in this matter, and indicating that she still did not have the requested information, despite the Ministry's agreement to disclose information earlier. On receipt of this letter, this office opened Appeal Number PA-990123-1. I sent a Notice of Inquiry to the parties on April 22, 1999, seeking representations. In its representations, the Ministry enclosed copies of two letters to the appellant dated April 29, 1999 and May 3, 1999, indicating that tables containing information relating to 1997 ai
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Published
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Oct 26, 2000
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Type
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Order
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