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The Archives of Ontario (the Archives) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) for access to a specific file containing the details of a 1972 investigation into allegations of abuse by a Christian Brother at St. John's Training School in Uxbridge, Ontario (St. John's).
The Archives stated that no records existed as described in the original request but located a single file which it considered responsive, entitled "St. John's Training School Investigation", containing two separate investigations which were undertaken in 1971 and 1973 by the Inspection and Standards Branch of what was then the Department of Correctional Services.
The Archives granted the requester access in part to the records, and denied him access to the remaining information pursuant to the mandatory exemption provided by section 21 of the Act. The requester appealed the decision.
During mediation, the scope of the request was reduced to the following records:
Record 2 Memorandum dated March 12, 1973
Record 7 Correspondence dated April 5, 1973
Record 12 Correspondence dated January 6, 1973
Record 14 Memorandum dated October 29, 1971
Record 15 Memorandum dated October 26, 1971
The Archives then reconsidered their original decision and disclosed additional parts of the records to the appellant.
The appellant indicated that he was not satisfied with the Archives' new decision as he felt that much more had been deleted from the document than would be reasonably necessary to protect the identity of individuals.
Further mediation was not possible and notice that an inquiry was being conducted to review the decision was sent to the Archives, the appellant, and two individuals named in the records. The subject of the allegations investigated in the report was not notified as this individual is deceased, and the other individuals named in the records could not be located. Representations were received from the Archives and the appellant.
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