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Document
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P-1529
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File #
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P-9700316
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Health
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Ministry of Health (the Ministry) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to all information relating to a complaint filed against the requester. In particular, the requester sought access to "the initial complaint, handwritten notes, incident reports, recommendations and conclusions" by all the parties involved in the investigation which resulted from the complaint. The Ministry identified the responsive records but denied access to them on the basis that they fall outside the scope of the Act (section 65(6)). The requester appealed the decision to deny access. A complaint was made against the requester, an employee of the Emergency Health Services, Peel-York & District Ambulance Services of the Ministry, as a result of an ambulance call that he made. The records requested were generated as part of the Peel-York & District Ambulance Services' investigation into the complaint. The records at issue consist of a 30-page investigation report which includes interviews, conclusions and recommendations, memoranda, complaint/inquiry report, call details report, incident reports, supplemental report and handwritten notes. This office provided a Notice of Inquiry to the appellant and the Ministry. Representations were received from both parties. DISCUSSION: JURISDICTION The sole issue in this appeal is whether the records fall within the scope of section 65(6) of the Act . The interpretation of sections 65(6) and (7) is a preliminary issue which goes to the Commissioner's jurisdiction to continue an inquiry. Section 65(6) is record-specific and fact-specific. If this section applies to a specific record, in the circumstances of a particular appeal, and none of the exceptions in section 65(7) are present, then the record is excluded from the scope of the Act and not subject to the Commissioner's jurisdiction. Sections 65(6) and (7) read as follows: (6) Subject to subsection (7), this Act does not apply to records collected, prepared, maintained or used by or on behalf of an institution in relation to any of the following: 1. Proceedings or anticipated proceedings before a court, tribunal or other entity relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution. 2. Negotiations or anticipated negotiations relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution between the institution and a person, bargaining agent or party to a proceeding or an anticipated proceeding. 3. Meetings, consultations, discussions or communications about labour relations or employment-related matters in which the institution has an interest. (7) This Act applies to the following records: 1. An agreement between an institution and a trade union. 2. An agreement between an institution and one or more employees which ends a proceeding before a court, a tribunal or other entity relating to labour relations or to employment-related matters. 3. An agreement between an institution and one or more employees resulting from negotiations about employment-related matters between the institution and the employee or employees. 4. An expense account submitted by an employee of an institution to that institution for the purpose of seeking reimbursement for expenses incurred by the employee in his or her employment. The Ministry submits that section 65(6)3 applies to the records which were generated as a result of a complaint made against the appellant. The Ministry submits that the records, therefore, are concerned with employment-related matters in which the Ministry has an interest. By way of background, the Ministry states that the Peel-York & District Ambulance Service is a ministry-owned and operated ambulance service. Section 27 of Ontario Regulation 19 to the Ambulance Act , the regulation in effect at the time that the records were created, outlines the procedures which applied to complaints and incident reports and sets out the Ministry's obligations. Section 27(1) of O.Reg. 19 states: Every operator shall ensure that an incident report is made respecting, (a) each formal complaint relating to the operator's ambulance service received by the operator or on the operator's behalf; (b) each investigation carried out by the operator or under the operator's authority relating to the operator's ambulance service; and (c) every unusual occurrence, including unusual delays, suspicious circumstances, equipment deficiencies or interference in the performance of ambulance service, encountered or experienced by the operator or any of the operator's employees in the course of providing ambulance service. The Ministry states that its Emergency Health Services Branch also has a policy which sets out the required process for responding to complaints from both internal and external sources. The Ministry states that the complaint against the appellant and a co-worker was fully investigated by the Operations Manager who concluded that the complaint was unfounded. This finding was conveyed to both the appellant and the co-worker. The appellant states that false allegations are constantly made against paramedics and he intends to launch a law suit against the complainant for the distress caused by the frivolous and unfounded complaint. The appellant submits that he requires access to the records to assist him in the
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Mumtaz Jiwan
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Published
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Feb 13, 1998
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Type
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Order
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2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
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