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Document
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PO-2249
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File #
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PA-030121-2
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: This is an appeal from a decision of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (the Ministry), made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ). The requester (now the appellant) sought access to the minutes and agenda for the meetings of Provincial and Territorial Medical Directors from January 1, 2001 to the date of the request. She also asked that the request continue to have effect for two years. The Ministry located the responsive records and denied access to them in their entirety, relying on the discretionary exemption in section 15 of the Act (intergovernmental relations). The appellant appealed from the Ministry’s decision. During the course of mediation, it was determined that the appellant has been granted access to parts of the records as a result of another request. Accordingly, these parts are no longer in issue (see below). I sent the Notice of Inquiry to the Ministry, initially, inviting it to submit representations on the facts and issues raised by the appeal. As it appeared that the interests of other provinces and territories might be affected by disclosure of the records, I also provided notice to them. I received representations from 10 out of 11 provinces and territories notified of the appeal. All of those responding objected to the release of the information in the records. I then sent the Notice to the appellant, along with the representations of the Ministry, severed for confidentiality. I also provided the complete representations of the Province of Alberta and indicated that the other governments objected to the release of the records for reasons substantially similar to those expressed by Alberta. The appellant has chosen not to make representations in this appeal. It should be noted that during the course of my inquiry, another file (Appeal No. PA-030035-2) was closed as it appeared that the record at issue in that file was subsumed within the present appeal. The representations made in that file have been transferred to this appeal. RECORDS: The records at issue consist of five documents: Record 1 (114 pages) is the agenda and minutes for the Spring Meeting of Provincial & Territorial Medical Directors of March 16 to 17, 2001. Included with Record 1 are approximately 68 pages of appendices which appear to be in the nature of resource materials. Record 2 (52 pages) is the minutes for the Provincial/Territorial Medical Directors’ Meeting of August 9 and 10, 2001. Record 3 (35 pages) is the minutes for the Provincial/Territorial Medical Directors’ Meeting of March 1 and 2, 2002. Record 4 (3 pages) is the agenda for the Interprovincial Medical Directors Meeting of September 19 to 20, 2002. Pages 2 and 3 of this record are not at issue. Record 5 (36 pages) is the minutes for the Interprovincial Medical Directors Meeting of September 19 to 20, 2002. Page13 and part of page 14 are not at issue. The portions of the records that have been disclosed relate to a prior request made by the appellant for information about the discussion on a specific medical issue (gene testing). In its representations, the Ministry states that section 15(a) applies to exempt all five records from disclosure, and section 15(b) to exempt Records 1, 2, 3 and 5. DISCUSSION: RELATIONS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTS The relevant parts of section 15 state: A head may refuse to disclose a record where the disclosure could reasonably be expected to, (a) prejudice the conduct of intergovernmental relations by the Government of Ontario or an institution; (b) reveal information received in confidence from another government or its agencies by an institution; or and shall not disclose any such record without the prior approval of the Executive Council. Section 15 recognizes that the Ontario government will create and receive records in the course of its relations with other governments. Section 15(a) recognizes the value of intergovernmental contacts, and its purpose is to protect these working relationships. Similarly, the purpose of sections 15(b) and (c) is to allow the Ontario government to receive information in confidence, thereby building the trust required to conduct affairs of mutual concern [Order PO-1927-I; see also Order P-1398, upheld on judicial review in Ontario (Minister of Finance) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner) (1999), 118 O.A.C. 108 (C.A.)]. For this exemption to apply, the institution must demonstrate that disclosure of the record “could reasonably be expected to” lead to the specified result. To meet this test, the institution must provide “detailed and convincing” evidence to establish a “reasonable expectation of harm”. Evidence amounting to speculation of possible harm is not sufficient [ Ontario (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Ontario (Assistant Information and Privacy Commissioner) (1998), 41 O.R. (3d) 464 (C.A.)]. If disclosure of a record would permit the drawing of accurate inferences with respect to information received from another government, it may be said to “reveal” the information received [Order P-1552]. Representations In the introduction to its representations, the Ministry describes the context within which the records were created. Provincial and Territorial Medical Directors meet twice a year to discuss medical services and payment adjudication related to provincial and territorial health insurance programs. The records at issue in this appeal were created or discussed at Provincial and Territorial Medical Directors’ Meetings in 2001 and 2002. They describe and record in detail the proceedings of these meetings, the matters or issues slated for discussion and the statements of the government representatives in attendance at the meetings. The Ministry submits that the purpose of the meetings is to engage Medical Directors from across Canada in meaningful “off the record” discussions of issues and matters generally impacting on public health policy. The meetings are held in camera and the proceedings are not made available to the public. The Ministry submits that participants engage in these frank and open discussions with an expectation of confidentiality. If participants understood that the meetings would not remain confidential, they would be less inclined to discuss matters candidly or attend at all. The Ministry submits, in general, that disclosing the records would undercut the value of future meetings. The Ministry submits that the expectation of confidentiality extends not only to the substance of the discussions as described in the Minutes, but also to the very topics discussed. In reviewing the specific records at issue, the Ministry notes that the Minutes in Records 1, 2, 3 and 5 are quite detailed, in that they record what each provincial/territorial representative said at the meetings. Taken together, they would reveal how provinces and territories treat particular medical procedures under their health insurance plans. They would also reveal information about negotiations, funding and management issues related to those plans. The Ministry submits that the Agendas in Records 1 and 4 and the Table of Contents in Record 3 list and/or describe the topics discussed at the meetings. Furthermore, the supporting documentation appended to Record 1 and integrated into Record 2 directly and expressly relates to the topics listed in the
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Sherry Liang
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Published
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Mar 05, 2004
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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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