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BACKGROUND:
On March 5, 1998, I issued Order P-1538 which dealt with an appeal from a decision of the Ministry of the Attorney General (the Ministry) under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act).
Order P-1538 provided that certain records, or parts of records, were to be disclosed by the Ministry and that other records, or parts of records, were properly exempt under various exemptions in the Act.
DISCUSSION:
THE RECONSIDERATION REQUEST
One of the affected persons to the appeal has requested that I reconsider my decision in Order P-1538 on the basis that there was a fundamental defect in the adjudication process which led to the issuance of the order. Specifically, the affected person submits that there was a fundamental defect in the inquiry because:
- I failed to consider issues of personal safety with respect to records to which the Ministry had not applied the section 20 exemption.
- The affected persons were not asked to comment on whether correspondence written in one's professional capacity could be properly characterized as the personal information of that individual.
- The affected persons were not asked to comment on the application of exemptions to certain other records.
Prior to the date for compliance with Order P-1538, the Ministry filed and served the Commissioner's office with an Application of the Judicial Review of the order on the basis that the findings contained therein with respect to the definition of "personal information" were incorrect.
As a result, an interim stay of Order P-1538 was granted to allow me to address both the issues of a full stay and the reconsideration request. The appellant, the Ministry and the affected persons were then provided with a Supplementary Notice of Inquiry requesting their submissions on whether the request for reconsideration fits within the grounds set out in the Commissioner's policy statement with respect to the reconsideration of orders. In addition, submissions were solicited on the substantive issues raised in the reconsideration request. Pending the disposition of the issues raised in the Supplementary Notice of Inquiry, the operation of Order P-1538 was also stayed.
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