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Document
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P-13
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File #
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Appeal #880093 Appeal #880095 Appeal #880096 #880100 #880101 #880102 #880103 #880104 #880114 #880115 #880125 #880128 #880129 #880135 #880136 #880137 #880144 #880145 #880153 #880154 #880168 #880171 #880175 #880176 #880177 #880178 #880191 #880217
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Correctional Services These appeals were received pursuant to subsection 50(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987 , (the " Act ") which gives a person who has made a request for access to a record under subsecti
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Summary
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Order are as follows: 1. The Ministry of Correctional Services (the "institution") received a number of requests from correctional officers employed by the institution throughout Ontario for access to "a complete portfolio on how my and the employers contribution to the Public Service Superannuation Fund (PSSF) are actually invested". 2. The Freedom of Information Coordinator (the "Co-ordinator") for the institution replied to the appellants and advised that "neither the Ministry of Correctional Services nor the Ministry of Government Services has a record of a complete portfolio on how your and your employer's contributions to the Public Service Superannuation Fund are actually invested." However, the institution advised the appellants that it had contacted the Ministry of Treasury and Economics and obtained information about the PSSF which was forwarded to the appellant with the letter. 3. Each of the appellants sent a notice of appeal to me stating that: "I requested detailed information and a complete portfolio on my and the employers PSSF contribution. You (the institution) did not provide enough information to satisfy me." 4. Between April 23, 1988 and June 16, 1988 discussions were held between members of my staff and officials of the Ministry of Correctional Services, Management Board of Cabinet and the Ministry of Treasury and Economics to determine whether or not a record existed which might provide the information requested. 5. On July 8, 1988 I sent notice to the appellants and the institution stating that I was conducting an inquiry into this matter to review the decision of the head and requesting that written representations be made to me prior to July 28, 1988. 6. I received written submissions from the institution and from some of the appellants. It should be noted, at the outset, that the purposes of the Act as defined in subsections 1 (a) and (b) are: (a) to provide a right of access to information under the control of institutions in accordance with the principles that information should be available to the public and that necessary exemptions from the right of access should be limited and specific, and (b) to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by institutions. In furtherance of these objectives, subsection 10(1) of the Act provides for access, subject to certain specific exemptions, to records "in the custody or under the control of an institution". "Record" is defined in section 1 of the Act as follows: "record" means any record of information however recorded, whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise, and includes, (a) correspondence, a memorandum, a book, a plan, a map, a drawing, a diagram, a pictorial or graphic work, a photograph, a film, a microfilm, a sound recording, a videotape, a machine readable record, any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy thereof, and (b) subject to the regulations, any record that is capable of being produced from a machine readable record under the control of an institution by means of computer hardware and software or any other information storage equipment and technical expertise normally used by the institution; The issues arising in this appeal are as follows: A. Whether it was necessary to reformulate the request in order to enable an experienced employee of the institution, upon a reasonable effort, to identify the record, if it exists. B. Whether all reasonable steps were taken by the institution to locate a record which might provide the information requested, either within the institution or in another government institution. ISSUE A: Whether it was necessary to reformulate the request in order to enable an experienced employee of the institution, upon a reasonable effort, to identify the record, if it exists. Subsection 24(1) of the Act requires a requester to provide sufficient detail of the record requested "to enable an experienced employee of the institution, upon a reasonable effort, to identify the record." Subsection 24(2) of the Act states that if the request does not sufficiently describe the record sought, the institution shall inform the requester of the defect and shall offer assistance in reformulating the request so as to comply with subsection 24(1). In its representations to me, the institution states that the nature of the information sought in the request was clear (i.e., a portfolio or list of investments purchased with monies contributed to the Public Service Superannuation Fund) and the Freedom of Information Co-ordinator for the institution saw no need to reformulate the request. I agree that it was not necessary to reformulate the request in order to identify the record, if it existed, in these circumstances. ISSUE B: Whether all reasonable steps were taken by the institution to locate a record which might provide the information requested, either within the institution or in another government institution. At my request, the institution provided an affidavit detailing the steps taken to locate a record to answer the appellants' request. In the affidavit the institution submits that its Co-ordinator has been employed for twelve years in "progressively responsible positions" within the institution and, as such, was able to recognize, upon receipt of the request, that the institution did not have a record containing the information requested by the appe
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Published
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Aug 17, 1988
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Type
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Order
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