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Document
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PO-1815
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File #
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PA-990456-1
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Institution/HIC
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Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (the Board) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to "a copy of the application and all other contents" of a file relating to a claim for compensation made to the Board by a named individual (the victim). The requester is alleged to have caused injury to the victim, and may be liable to reimburse the Board for any award of compensation made to the victim by the Board. The Board provided partial access to portions of five pages of records. In so doing, the Board stated that it was satisfying the statutory requirements of disclosure pursuant to the Statutory Powers Procedure Act (the SPPA ) and the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act (the CVCA ), but made no reference to the decision-making requirements under the Act . The requester wrote to the Board asking it to reconsider the decision and provide him with full access to the records. The Ministry of the Attorney General responded on behalf of the Board, advising the requester that access to the five pages of records was denied, based on the exemptions found in sections 21 and 49(b) (invasion of privacy). The requester, now the appellant, appealed the Board's decision. During mediation of the appeal, the Board identified 122 additional pages of responsive records and issued a second decision, granting access to four pages in their entirety, and partial access to a fifth page. The remaining records were withheld in their entirety under the exemptions in sections 13(1) (advice and recommendations), 21(1) and 49(b) of the Act . I sent a Notice of Inquiry initially to the Board and received representations in response. In its representations the Board withdrew the section 13(1) exemption claim, and also attached a copy of a third decision letter sent to the appellant, disclosing additional records. I then provided the appellant with a copy of the Notice of Inquiry, together with the Board's non-confidential representations, and received representations from him in response. Pages 17, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 37, 49, 50 and 114-116 are duplicates of pages 10, 18, 19, 9, 10, 11, 36, 4, 4 and 78-80 respectively. Consequently, there is no need for me to deal with this first group of pages, and I have removed them from the scope of this inquiry. Pages 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, 43, 44 and 127, and parts of pages 33, 35, 38, 39 and 40 have been disclosed to the appellant and are no longer at issue in this appeal. RECORDS: The records remaining at issue consist of: correspondence between the Board and the victim or persons acting on her behalf, and documentation submitted in support of the application (pages 1- 4, 14, 31, 45-48, 51-62, 70-80, 87-91, 113, 119-122 and 124-126); correspondence between the Board and alleged offenders other than the appellant, or their representatives (pages 5-7, 9-11, 18, 41 and 42); Power of Attorney relating to another alleged offender (pages 19-24); the birth certificate of an individual other than the appellant (page 25); the application documents (pages 32, 34 and 36, and portions of pages 33, 35 and 38); an incident report (portions of pages 39-40); an internal Board memorandum (page 63); records relating to the accounting of costs for compensation (pages 64-69, 81-86, 92-103, 109-112, 117 and 118); information provided by and correspondence sent to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board (pages 104-108 and 123). DISCUSSION: PERSONAL INFORMATION Under section 2(1) of the Act , "personal information" is defined, in part, to mean recorded information about an identifiable individual. I have reviewed the various pages of records and make the following findings: (1) Pages 1-7, 9-11, 18-25, 31-36, 41, 42, 52-77, 81-87, 92-104, 107-113, 117-122 and 124-126 contain the personal information only of individuals other than the appellant. These pages contain the victim's personal information, as well as personal information of other alleged offenders including addresses, references to them and to incidents in which they are involved, and correspondence, application records, supporting documentation, records relating to accounting of costs for compensation, and other documentation relating to the victim's application for compensation. (2) Pages 14, 38-40, 45-48, 51, 78-80, 88-91, 105, 106 and 123 contain the personal information of the appellant and other identifiable individuals, including the victim and other alleged offenders. These pages include references to the appellant, addresses and specifics concerning alleged incidents involving the appellant and other individuals. (3) None of the pages contain the personal information of the appellant only. Section 21(1)(d) The appellant submits that section 21(1)(d) applies in the circumstances of this appeal. This section provides an exception to the general prohibition against the disclosure of personal information to any person other than the individual to whom it relates. It states: A head shall refuse to disclose personal information to any person other than the individual to whom the information relates except, under an Act of Ontario or Canada that expressly authorizes the disclosure; The appellant argues that sections 6 and 8 of the SPPA expressly authorize the disclosure of the records. His position is that the notice requirements provided by these sections must be reasonable, in order to provide him with enough information to know the case he must meet. Section 6 sets out the various notice requirements under the SPPA , and section 8 states: Where the good character, propriety of conduct or competence of a party is an issue in a proceeding, the party is entitled to be furnished prior to the hearing with reasonable information of any allegations
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Tom Mitchinson
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Published
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Aug 30, 2000
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Type
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Order
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