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This investigation was initiated as a result of a complaint concerning the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (the Ministry).
In 1984, the complainant acquired a parcel of land that held mining rights granted under the Mining Act. In 1991, the Mining Act was amended, providing for fee increases and changes to the mining land tax (previously called acreage tax) rate. The complainant believed that the amendments would lead to the confiscation of the properties of owners who could not pay the higher taxes to maintain their mining rights.
On May 3, 1993, the complainant wrote to all but three provincial members of parliament (MPPs) soliciting their support for a private member's bill which he felt would correct "an injustice inadvertently caused by the recent changes to the Mining Act and Regulations."
On May 25, 1993, the Minister of Northern Development and Mines (the Minister), one of the three MPPs who had not received the letter from the complainant, wrote to the Liberal MPP who was his party's "mines critic." In her correspondence, the Minister referred to the complainant's letter and discussed his particular situation with respect to his property and the mining land taxes.
On January 10, 1994, the complainant wrote again to those MPPs from whom he had not received a reply to his earlier letter. At this time, a copy of the Minister's letter was forwarded to the complainant from the Liberal MPP via another MPP -- the member who had planned to introduce the private member's bill.
The complainant believed that the Minister's letter to the Liberal MPP was an "attempt to discredit me and my position" and to "distract attention from the issue I have raised." The complainant stated that in his letter to MPPs, he "was careful to focus on the inequity caused by the Act" and not the issue "related to the fact that the Ministry had previously illegally levied a tax on my property." The complainant, therefore, believed that the Minister's letter disclosing information about him, his property and its mining potential, and the provincial mining taxes he had paid, was contrary to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act).
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