PO-1886

The Ministry of Consumer and Business Services (formerly the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations) (the Ministry) received two separate requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act), from the same requester, for access to photocopies of the death certificates of two different named individuals. The requester states that he is "engaged in assisting with the administration of estates where the beneficiaries are unknown or cannot be located by the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee." The company he represents also provides genealogical research services for individuals and families.

One responsive record was identified for each request, and the Ministry provided partial access to the two records. The undisclosed information in both cases was denied on the basis that disclosure would constitute an unjustified invasion of the privacy of certain individuals identified in the records (section 21(1)).

The requester (now the appellant) appealed both decisions. The only portions of the records subject to appeal are the sections containing information about the parents of the individuals identified in the requests.

Mediation of these appeals was not successful, so they proceeded to the adjudication stage. I sent an initial Notice of Inquiry to the Ministry, and received representations in response. I then sent a copy of the Notice to the appellant, along with the non-confidential portions of the Ministry's representations. The appellant also provided representations, which I shared with the Ministry, and received additional representations from the Ministry in reply.

• FIPPA
• 2(2)

• administration of estate
• person is deceased
• person is deceased