|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Document
|
|
P-1147
|
|
|
|
|
|
File #
|
|
P-9500467, P-9500468, P-9500469, P-9500471, P-9500472,
|
|
|
|
|
|
Institution/HIC
|
|
Ministry of the Attorney General
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
NATURE OF THE APPEALS: The Ministry of the Attorney General (the Ministry) received a 13-part request under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to information regarding: the Special Investigations Unit's (the SIU) policies and procedures for the hiring of investigators the circumstances surrounding the recruitment and employment of a named individual, and information relating to the investigation and review of the SIU's hiring policies in general and the hiring of the named individual in particular. The Ministry granted partial access to the records identified as responsive to the request and denied access to the remainder based on the following exemptions: advice or recommendations - section 13(1) invasion of privacy - section 21 information published or available - section 22(a) The requester appealed the Ministry's decisions relating to 11 of the 13 parts of the request. During the course of mediation, the number of appeal files was reduced to eight due to duplication of records, the transfer of a request to another institution and a narrowing of the request. A Notice of Inquiry was provided to the appellant, the Ministry and the named individual (the affected person). Representations were received from all parties. In its representations, the Ministry withdrew the exemptions it had claimed for the following portions of the records: Appeal P-9500468 - pages 97 to 99 Appeal P-9500471 - pages 1 to 12, 17 to 22 and 23 to 25 Appeal P-9500472 - pages 25 to 27 Appeal P-9500473 - pages 92 to 98 In response to the Notice of Inquiry, the affected person consented to the disclosure of his personal information contained in the records, in accordance with section 21(1)(a) of the Act . As a result of the Ministry's and the affected person's representations, I find that the pages listed above should be disclosed to the appellant. With the disclosure of pages 92 to 98 in Appeal P-9500473, it is not necessary for me to address the application of section 22(a) of the Act to the records. After being notified of the consent provided by the affected person, the Ministry disclosed additional portions of the records to the appellant. The record in Appeal No. P-9500469 was disclosed to the appellant in its entirety. As a result, there are no outstanding issues in that appeal and it is not subject to this order. DISCUSSION : INVASION OF PRIVACY Under section 2(1) of the Act , "personal information" is defined, in part, to mean recorded information about an identifiable individual, including the individual's name where it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual. Having reviewed the records remaining at issue in each of the appeal files, I am satisfied that the records related to Appeals P-9500471, P-9500472, P-9500473, P-9500476 and pages 73-90 in Appeal P-9500467 contain personal information. The records related to Appeal P-9500489 do not contain information about any identifiable individuals, and do not qualify as personal information for the purposes of the Act . No other exemptions have been claimed for these records and they should be disclosed to the appellant. Once it has been determined that a record contains personal information, section 21(1) of the Act prohibits the disclosure of this information unless one of the exceptions listed in the section applies. One exception which applies in this appeal is section 21(1)(a), which permits disclosure "upon the prior written request or consent of the individual ...". The overwhelming majority of the information which I have found to qualify as personal information relates to the affected person. He has provided the Ministry with written consent to disclose the personal information relating to him to the appellant. Accordingly, the section 21 exemption does not apply to this information and it should be disclosed to the appellant. The only other exception which might apply in this appeal is section 21(1)(f), which permits disclosure if it "... does not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy." Because section 21(1)(f) is an exception to the mandatory exemption which prohibits the disclosure of personal information, in order for me to find that section 21(1)(f) applies, I must find that disclosure of the personal information would not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. The personal information which remains relates to other candidates in the competition for the position of investigator. Sections 21(2), (3) and (4) of the Act provide guidance in determining whether disclosure of the personal information would result in an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. Where one of the presumptions in section 21(3) applies to the personal information found in a record, the only way such a presumption against disclosure can be overcome is if the personal information falls under section 21(4) or where a finding is made that section 23 of the Act applies to the personal information. If none of the presumptions in section 21(3) apply, the Ministry must consider the application of the factors listed in section 21(2) of the Act , as well as all other circumstances that are relevant in the circumstances of the case. The Ministry submits that the personal information constitutes primarily employment and educational histories, personal recommendations and evaluations, character references and personnel evaluations and, therefore, the presumptions found in sections 21(3)(d) and (g) apply. The representations of the appellant are focused on the need for disclosure of the personal information of the affected person. The appellant has not advanced any evidence or argument weighing in favour of finding that disclosure of the personal information of the other candidates would not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. Accordingly, I find that the exception under section 21(1)(f) does not apply.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signed by
|
|
Irena Pascoe
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published
|
|
Mar 18, 1996
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
|
Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
<<
Back
|
|
|
|
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
|
© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
|