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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information and Protection ofPrivacy Act (the Act ). The requester submitted a request under the Act to the Ministry of the Attorney General (the Ministry) for copies ofall records in its possession concerning a named individual. In general, therequest relates, but is not restricted, to all attempts, efforts or requests tohave the named individual charged under the Criminal Code with spreadinghate. The named individual provided a consent for the requester to receive hispersonal information. The requester subsequently advised that she was acting onthe named individual's behalf in this appeal. Accordingly, for ease ofreference, I will refer to the named individual as the appellant throughout thisorder. The Ministry located responsive records and granted partial access to them. The Ministry denied access to the remaining records pursuant to the followingexemptions under the Act : advice and recommendations - section 13(1) law enforcement report - section 14(2)(a) solicitor-client privilege - section 19 danger to safety or health - section 20 invasion of privacy - section 21 information published or available - section 22(a). The appellant appealed this decision and Appeal P-9600329 was opened. TheAppeals Officer assigned to this file, the Ministry and the appellant's agententered into extensive mediation regarding the issues and records at issue inthis appeal. In order to understand the issues in this appeal, it will behelpful to describe the results of this mediation. In his letter of appeal, the appellant indicated that he does not wish toappeal the Ministry's decision with respect to 993 pages of documents deniedunder section 22(a) of the Act , which consist of newspaper clippings,court decisions, transcripts and a videotape. He further advised that he alsodoes not wish to appeal the decision with respect to the Ontario ProvincialPolice Investigation Brief consisting of 73 pages, access to which was deniedpursuant to sections 14(2)(a), 19, 20 and 21 of the Act . Accordingly,these records and section 14(2)(a) are not at issue in this appeal. During the mediation stage of the appeal, the Ministry issued a seconddecision letter informing the appellant that additional records responsive tohis request were located. Access to these records was denied pursuant tosections 13(1), 19 and 21 of the Act . The appellant appealed thisdecision, which became the subject of a separate appeal (Appeal P-9600366). This appeal was later settled in mediation. Also during mediation, the appellant, agreed that he is no longer pursuingaccess to a number of records. Specifically, these records are: Pages 1, 2,61, 63 - 65, 67, 111 - 133, 152, 154, 155, 168 - 177, 179, 180, 181 - 182, 184,185, 187, 188, 190, 191, 200 - 204, 206 - 218, 220, 264, 276 - 279, 284,296 - 301 and 311 - 315. Accordingly, these records are no longer at issue inthis appeal. Furthermore, the appellant advised the Appeals Officer that he is notpursuing access to any personal information which exists within the recordswhich remained at issue. This includes names of individuals, as well as anypersonal identifiers. In turn, the Ministry agreed to consider a number ofrecords for disclosure. At this point, the appeal was put "on hold". That is, the appealwas removed from active processing by this office. The Ministry issued its revised decision in this matter and granted theappellant partial access to some of the records which remained at issue. TheMinistry indicated that access to part of the records is denied pursuant tosections 13(1), 19, 20 and 21 of the Act . The appellant wrote to the Commissioner's Office, and indicated that hewould like to proceed with his appeal in this matter. The Commissioner's Officereactivated Appeal P-9600329 under a new appeal number -- Appeal P-9700089. In his letter, the appellant advised that, with respect to Records 33, 38and 60, he is only appealing the severances made pursuant to the section 19exemption. The appellant further clarified the following: (1) with respect toRecord 39, he is only appealing the section 21 severance relating to theindividual who wrote the May 29, 1985 letter; (2) with respect to Record 178, heis only appealing the section 21 severance relating to the individual who wrotethe August 26, 1983 letter; (3) with respect to Record 189, he is only appealingthe section 21 severance relating to the individuals who wrote the May 28, 1981letter; and (4) with respect to Record 293, he is only appealing the section 21severance relating to the individual who wrote the February 24, 1993 letter. The appellant confirmed that he is not appealing any other severances withrespect to these records. During the mediation stage of appeal number P-9700089, the appellantconfirmed that from the group of records which were released to him in part,aside from Records 33, 38, 39, 60, 178, 189 and 293, which were discussed above,he also wishes to appeal the Ministry's decision with respect to Records 66, 97and 138. All other records which were released by the Ministry in part are nolonger at issue in this appeal. The appellant further confirmed that, aside from the records which he agreednot to pursue prior to Appeal P-9600329 being placed on hold, he is appealingthe Ministry's decision with respect to all other records which were withheld bythe Ministry in their entirety. The appellant clarified, however, that he is not seeking access to anyletters written in German for which there exist English translations. Accordingly, the letters written in German, which form part of Records 136, 162,221 and 227, are no longer at issue in this appeal. Also during mediation, the Ministry released to the appellant theinformation which remained at issue in Record 39. Accordingly, this record isno longer at issue in this appeal. During the mediation stage of this appeal, the Ministry provided the AppealsOfficer with an index outlining the exemptions which were claimed for variousgroups of records. Later in the process, all records were assigned individualrecord numbers. Therefore, as a result of the mediation undertaken by theparties, and in accordance with the Ministry's index, the Appeals Officeridentified a list of the records which remained at issue in this appeal (eitherin whole or in part) and the exemptions which were claimed by the Ministry. This office sent a Notice of Inquiry (including a description of the recordsat issue) to the Ministry, the appellant's agent, and four other individualswhose interests might be affected by disclosure of the records. In this Notice,the Appeals Officer indicated that the Ministry had claimed discretionaryexemptions for certain records outside the 35-day time limit as set out in theConfirmation of Appeal, and asked the Ministry to p
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