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Document
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PO-1822
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File #
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PA-990347-1
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Institution/HIC
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Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: This appeal is brought by an individual (the "appellant") who is seeking access to all records held by the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (the "Public Guardian") in regards to his deceased father and to himself. The appellant's request for information is somewhat imprecise but makes reference to the estate of his father and to himself as executor of his father's estate. In response to the appellant's request for records, the Ministry released 457 pages of documents to him but, in a series of three decisions, withheld an estimated 541 pages of documents responsive to his request. The withheld records, contained in three packages of documents forwarded to this Office, included correspondence, internal memoranda and notes, administrative forms, assessment forms, computer data screens, lawyers' billing reports, draft court documents, fax cover sheets and transmittal sheets, as well as a 1998 income tax return, records of cash disbursements and two indentures registered on the legal title of property. In this decision, I identify the records with reference to one of the three packages forwarded to this Office. This is necessary because the records in each package were numbered beginning from one. The total number of pages forwarded to this Office was 538, not 541 as estimated in decision letters. This number is consistent with the indices to the three packages of materials. The following pages were duplicates of other records provided and have not been considered separately: in package one: 47-1 to 6; 60; 61; 61-2; 72; 85-5 to 7; in package two: 62-1 to 3 ; 72-4. In withholding 538 pages of records, the Public Guardian relied on a number of statutory exemptions to the fundamental right of access to information established in the Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy Act (the " Act ") including: unjustified invasion of personal privacy - section 21(1) and section 49(b) solicitor-client privilege - section 19 the discretion to refuse to disclose a requester's own information - section 49(a) the discretionary exemptions applying to the advice of a public servant and to reports of law enforcement agencies - section 13(1) and 14(2)(a). The appellant has challenged the decision to withhold documents and has also questioned the adequacy of the Public Guardian's search for responsive records. The appellant raised the possibility that further records exist which have not been referred to by the Public Guardian. This Office sent a Notice of Inquiry to the Public Guardian, to the appellant's mother as an affected party, and to the appellant, summarizing the facts and issues in dispute and seeking representations. Representations were received from the Public Guardian. No representations were received from appellant or from his mother. There are a number of issues raised by this appeal, including the adequacy of the record search, the status of the appellant in relation to his father's estate, the disclosure of personal information of individuals other than the appellant, the appellant's right of access to his own personal information, the scope of solicitor-client privilege and the status of the Public Guardian as a law enforcement agency. Before dealing with each of these issues, I will provide a brief summary of the factual background to this appeal. BACKGROUND: The events giving rise to this appeal begin in 1997. The appellant's parents had been facing a forced sale of their farm for some years due to an unsatisfied debt. The appellant sought legal assistance for his parents. One of the lawyers who interviewed the parents came to the conclusion that either or both might lack the capacity to retain and instruct counsel. That lawyer contacted the Public Guardian and informed the son of this referral. The Public Guardian then met with each of the parents, reviewed their medical and financial circumstances and determined that this was an appropriate case for the intervention of the Public Guardian to protect the financial interests of either or both parents. Some of the undisclosed documents at issue in this appeal were created in the course of this assessment of the needs and circumstances of the appellant's parents. On January 16, 1998, the Public Guardian brought an application in the Ontario Court of Justice (General Division)[now the Superior Court of Justice] for an Order of temporary guardianship of the property of the appellant's father. The Order was granted. Unfortunately, the father died a short while later, on March 8, 1998. Given that the appellant's mother had been found to be capable of managing her own financial affairs, this brought to an end the involvement of the Public Trustee with this family. However, there were a number of expenses incurred during the assessment process which the Public Guardian has claimed against the account of the deceased father. Some of the undisclosed materials in this file are records of disbursements made out of the account of the father. With this background, I will proceed to discuss the issues in this appeal. REASONABLE SEARCH During the mediation stage of this appeal, the appellant indicated that he believes that there are additional records responsive to his request which have not been identified by the Public Guardian. His reason for this belief is that he was advised by a policy analyst at the Public Guardian that there were two or three boxes of records. On this basis, the reasonableness of the search was added to the issues to be considered in this appeal. In its Notice of Appeal, this Office asked the Public Guardian to provide a written summary of the steps which it took to identify all the records requested by the appellant. In response, the Public Guardian provided particulars of three separate searches: in the Toronto office of the Public Guardian; in the London office of the Public Guardian; and in the Toronto office of the Finance Department of the Public Guardian. A total of 998 pages of documents were identified as responsive to the request. The Public Guardian identified the title or position of the employees who conducted the search and set out the basis for their knowledge of the related files. The Public Guardian stated in its representations that none of the records sought by the appellant would have been destroyed as the practice of the
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Katherine Laird
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Published
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Oct 12, 2000
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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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