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Document
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P-794
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File #
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P-9400333, P-9400334, P-9400335, P-9400336 and
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Education and Training
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEALS: These are appeals under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ). The requester asked the Ministry of Education and Training (the Ministry) for copies of records relating to the tenders called for the operation of jobsOntario training programs in Middlesex, Norfolk, Perth, Elgin and Oxford counties. His request, described in greater detail below, was treated as five separate requests by the Ministry. The requester is an unsuccessful tenderer for an employment training program to be operated with jobsOntario funding. The specific requests were as follows: 1. The number of jobsOntario tenders issued by the Counties of Middlesex, Norfolk, Perth, Elgin and Oxford for the period of January 1, 1993 to March 31, 1994. 2. Mailing lists of potential submitters as well as the advertisements soliciting submissions for the above tenders. 3. Lists of successful tenderers (bids included) for all the tenders awarded between the above dates. 4. The number of selection committees in which a named individual was involved, where Fanshawe College was one of the successful bidders. 5. Lists of names of those on the selection committees for each of the tenders in question. In its first decision letter, covering all five requests, the Ministry advised that the three brokers responsible for jobsOntario in the counties of Perth, Middlesex and Oxford were private non-profit organizations which are not institutions for the purposes of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act or the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act . It also stated that it had passed on the requests to the respective brokers on an informal basis, rather than as a formal transfer under the Acts . With regard to Norfolk County, the Ministry advised that the broker is the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk, which is an institution under the Municipal Act . Therefore, in accordance with section 25(2) of the Act , it formally transferred that part of the request to the Regional Municipality. For Elgin County, the Ministry stated that the broker is Fanshawe College, which is an institution within the meaning of the Provincial Act . The request was transferred under section 25(2) of the Act to Fanshawe College. In a second decision letter, the Ministry stated that the information requested for the Counties of Middlesex, Norfolk, Perth, Elgin and Oxford did not exist within the Ministry for the purposes of the Act . A third decision letter was subsequently issued, amending the second decision letter, stating that the records requested for the Counties of Middlesex, Perth and Oxford were not in the custody or under the control of the Ministry within the meaning of the Act . The requester appealed the Ministry's decision to transfer the requests. He further indicates his belief that all of the records he seeks are in the possession of the Ministry. As the records and issues in each request are related, this order will dispose of the issues raised in all five appeals. This order does not deal with the issue of access to the records which may be responsive to the requests, rather, it addresses the following procedural issues: 1. Whether the Ministry was entitled under section 25 of the Act to transfer parts of the request to the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk and Fanshawe College; and 2. whether the records requested pertaining to Perth, Middlesex and Oxford counties are in the custody or under the control of the Ministry pursuant to section 10(1) of the Act . A Notice of Inquiry was provided to the parties to the appeals and representations were received from the Ministry and the appellant. NATURE OF THE jobsONTARIO TRAINING PROGRAM The Ministry indicates that the jobsOntario Training program is delivered by a variety of organizations which operate as brokers who have entered into contracts with the Ministry. These agreements provide that the Ministry will reimburse the broker for eligible costs incurred in operating the program. Under the guidelines and the terms of the contract, the broker is free to enter into fee for service agreements with other organizations for specific services such as training or the development of training plans. The approval of the Ministry is not required for such agreements, nor is any specific reporting required unless there is a potential conflict of interest. DISCUSSION: TRANSFER OF REQUESTS TO THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF HALDIMAND-NORFOLK AND FANSHAWE COLLEGE In its representations, the Ministry indicates that the three brokers responsible for jobsOntario in the counties of Perth, Middlesex and Oxford are Family Services Perth-Huron, the London Unemployment Help Centre and the South West Centre for Community Programme Development, respectively. These agencies are not institutions for the purposes of the Provincial or Municipal Acts and, accordingly, the appellant's request could not be formally transferred to these agencies under the Act . The issue of the transferring of requests deals only with the transfers to the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk and Fanshawe College, which are institutions under the Municipal and Provincial Acts , respectively. Section 25(2) of the Act states: Where an institution receives a request for access to a record and the head considers that another institution has a greater interest in the record, the head may transfer the request and, if necessary, the record to the other institution, within fifteen days after the request is received, in which case the head transferring the request shall give written notice of the transfer to the person who made the request. Section 25(2) gives the head of an institution the discretion to transfer a request and, if necessary, the record to another institution where the head considers that the other institution has a greater interest in the records. Section 25(3) of the Act further defines what a "greater interest" means: For the purpose of subsection (2), another institution has a greater interest in a record than the institution that receives the request for access if, (a) the record was originally produced in or for the other institution; or
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Legislation
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FIPPA
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10(1) custody or control
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25(1)
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25(2)
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25(3)(a)
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Donald Hale
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Published
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Nov 15, 1994
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Type
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Order
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