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The Ministry of Transportation (the Ministry) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) for a complete list of all drivers in Ontario, including their names, addresses, driver's licence numbers, and other related information. The requester operates a business which locates heirs to estates.
The Ministry responded by denying access to the address information pursuant to section 21(1) of the Act (invasion of privacy), and the rest of the responsive information under section 22(a) of the Act (information published or currently available to the public). With respect to the section 22(a) exemption claim, the Ministry indicated that this information is already available from the driver information databases administered by the Ministry's Licensing and Control Branch. According to the Ministry, driver information is available from this database upon presentation of a record identifier such as a name, date of birth or driver's licence number.
The requester (now the appellant) appealed the Ministry's decision, and also raised the possible application of section 23 of the Act, the so-called "public interest override".
During mediation, the appellant narrowed the scope of his request to include only the names and driver's licence numbers of all Ontario drivers.
Further mediation was not successful, and a Notice of Inquiry was sent to the Ministry and the appellant. Representations were received from both parties.
After submitting representations, the Ministry identified that the appellant's business had a similar name to another organization whose known business activities raised concerns for the Ministry. A Supplementary Notice of Inquiry was sent to the parties to address this issue. I have reviewed the appellant's representations and the materials presented by the Ministry and, based on the evidence before me, I accept that the appellant and this other business are not connected.
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