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On March 28, 1989, a request was made to the Ministry of Community and Social Services (the "institution") under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987, as amended (the "Act"). The requester sought access to:
All information relating to the applicant on file with the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Director of Income Maintenance. Contents of my file [file number] as outlined in #3.
On May 16, 1989, the institution responded, granting the requester access to all of the requested records with the exception of certain information contained in the report of the Eligibility Review Officer (E.R.O.) (the "record"). Access to this information was denied pursuant to subsection 49(b) of the Act.
On August 11, 1989, the requester, through her lawyer (the "appellant"), appealed the decision of the institution pursuant to subsection 50(1) of the Act. This subsection gives a person who has made a request for access to personal information under subsection 48(1) a right to appeal any decision of a head of an institution under the Act to the Commissioner. In his letter of appeal, the appellant stated:
[The requester] requires the third party information that was excluded from the report in order to assess the quality of the Eligibility Review Officer's investigation. Should she receive this information, it is our intention to contact the third parties to determine the nature and content of any discussions that they had with the Eligibility Review Officer and confirm the accuracy of the Eligibility Review Officer's notes, which we believe are questionable. It is necessary for this to be done at once in order to preserve evidence for future court proceedings.
On August 15, 1989, notice of the appeal was given to the institution and the appellant.
In accordance with the usual practice, the appeal was assigned to an Appeals Officer who contacted the institution's Freedom of Information and Privacy office in order to obtain a copy of the requested records and discuss possible mediation of the appeal.
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