|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Document
|
|
PO-1793
|
|
|
|
|
|
File #
|
|
PA-990423-1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Institution/HIC
|
|
Ontario Human Rights Commission
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
BACKGROUND: The appellant has been involved in protracted dealings with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (the OHRC) relating to a complaint he made under the Human Rights Code . He subsequently made a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) to the OHRC for access to its file related to his complaint. The OHRC issued a decision granting access to some responsive records and denying access to others. The appellant appealed this decision and Appeal PA-990297-1 was opened. During mediation of this appeal, the Mediator, the appellant and the OHRC's Freedom of Information and Privacy Co-ordinator met to review the contents of the appellant's OHRC file. The Mediator, at the appellant's request, created an index outlining all documents contained in the file. As a result of the discussions held during mediation, Appeal PA-990297-1 was closed. NATURE OF THE APPEAL: Subsequent to the meeting which resulted in the closing of Appeal PA-990297-1, the appellant wrote to the Mediator indicating that there were documents missing from his OHRC file. He believes that these records should exist, thus raising the reasonableness of the OHRC's search for responsive records as an issue. Consequently, Appeal PA-990423-1 (the current appeal) was opened. During mediation, the appellant provided the Mediator with a list of records which he felt should be contained in his file. The appellant had copies of some of the records and did not have copies of others. The Mediator sent this list of records to the OHRC. After reviewing the list, the OHRC advised the appellant that some records were contained in the case file. The OHRC acknowledged that other records were not in the file but that the copies of these records which had been provided by the appellant during the mediation stage of Appeal PA-990297-1 had been placed in the file. Finally, the OHRC indicated that other records could not be located in the file. The appellant continues to believe that certain records should exist in his OHRC file. I sent a Notice of Inquiry to the OHRC, initially. The OHRC submitted representations and an affidavit sworn by the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director (the EA) in response. I decided to move this inquiry into stage two and sought representations from the appellant. I modified the Notice of Inquiry which was initially sent to the OHRC to reflect specific questions I requested the appellant to address arising from the OHRC's submissions. I also enclosed the non-confidential representations and affidavit of the OHRC and asked the appellant to review them prior to preparing his response. The appellant did not submit representations in response to the Notice, but rather indicated that he had previously made representations to this office and would be relying on them. As Appeal PA-990297-1 was closed during the mediation stage the appellant would not have been in a position to make "representations" as contemplated during the inquiry process. However, I have reviewed both appeal files and have considered all of the correspondence submitted to this office from the appellant which is not mediation privileged as constituting the "representations" to which he refers. RECORDS: The four records (or types of records) which the appellant believes should exist and form part of his OHRC file are: Correspondence from the OHRC to a named company (the company) regarding his complaint; Response(s) from the company to the OHRC regarding his complaint; Correspondence dated July 17, 1998 from a named individual to the OHRC; and, Correspondence dated September 1, 1998 from another named individual to a third named individual. DISCUSSION: REASONABLE SEARCH Where a requester provides sufficient detail about the records which he is seeking and the OHRC indicates that further records do not exist, it is my responsibility to ensure that the OHRC has made a reasonable search to identify any records which are responsive to the request. The Act does not require the OHRC to prove with absolute certainty that further records do not exist. However, in my view, in order to properly discharge its obligations under the Act , the OHRC must provide me with sufficient evidence to show that it has made a reasonable effort to identify and locate records responsive to the request (Orders M-282, P-458 and P-535, for example). A reasonable search would be one in which an experienced employee expending reasonable effort conducts a search to identify any records that are reasonably related to the request (Order M-909). Although an appellant will rarely be in a position to indicate precisely which records have not been identified in the OHRC's response to a request, the appellant must, nevertheless, provide a reasonable basis for concluding that such records may, in fact, exist (Order M-686). The appellant's position With respect to item (3) referred to above, the appellant indicates in his correspondence that in a July 15, 1998 letter, the named individual stated that he would write a letter to the OHRC on July 17, 1998. The appellant states that it appears that neither he nor the OHRC have received it. Apart from stating that he believes that other documents are missing from his file, the appellant does not provide any specific detail as to which documents these might be or why they should exist. The OHRC's response The OHRC indicates that the appellant filed a human rights complaint against the named company and a number of its employees alleging discrimination because of handicap. The OHRC indicates further that the complaints went through the regular case process including reconsideration and the file was closed in April, 1999. In her affidavit, the EA states that she has been directly involved in the processing of the appellant's access requests beginning in October 14, 1998.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signed by
|
|
Laurel Cropley
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published
|
|
Jun 21, 2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
|
Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
<<
Back
|
|
|
|
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
|
© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
|