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Document
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PO-1811
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File #
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PA-990241-1
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (the Ministry) received a request for access to records held by the Ministry concerning a specified group of related individuals and business entities. The requester indicated that he/she was interested in records relating to the dairy operations and crop production activities carried out by these individuals and businesses. The requester stated: I confirm that this request is intended to be a very broad one. It is intended to cover all documents, records and correspondence between [the Ministry] and the listed persons and entities and it is intended to go back in time as far as [the Ministry's] records are available. Please be advised that we are primarily interested in any materials relating to the dairy operations and crop production activities of the above-listed persons and entities. We understand that, for example, . . . such records may have been exchanged between the Ministry and entities with respect to such issues as inspection of dairy products, the state of effluent from the farm property, the state of soil and plants in the context of both farm product and feed. The Ministry identified 15 records consisting of 776 pages responsive to the request, and then notified the affected persons of the request. The affected persons, represented by a single counsel (from here on collectively referred to as "the affected person"), wrote to the Ministry stating that he consented to the disclosure of most of the records relating to him, but objected to the disclosure of some records (amounting to 35 pages). The affected person provided the Ministry with submissions in support of his position. After receiving submissions from the affected person, the Ministry wrote to the requester advising that the Ministry was granting partial access to the responsive records. The Ministry indicated that it was withholding portions of Record 4 (4 pages), and all of Records 1, 2 and 9 (31 pages) on the basis of the exemptions at section 17 (third party information) and 21 (personal privacy) of the Act . The requester (now the appellant) appealed the Ministry's decision to this office. I sent a Notice of Inquiry setting out the issues in the appeal initially to the Ministry and the affected person, and received representations in response. I then sent the non-confidential portions of the Ministry's representations, together with a Notice of Inquiry, to the appellant. I also received representations from the appellant. Finally, I sent the non-confidential portions of the appellant's representations to the Ministry and the affected person, seeking representations in reply. Both the Ministry and the affected person made reply representations. The appellant indicated in his/her representations that the appeal was being withdrawn with respect to Record 4. As a result, I will not consider the application of the claimed exemptions to this record. THE RECORDS: The records at issue in this appeal are described as follows: Record 1 Agricultural Laboratory Services, Pesticide Residue Section testing reports and testing submission forms dated from 1979 to 1986 Record 2a Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch internal memorandum dated December 10, 1996 Record 2b Letter to the Ministry from the affected person dated December 9, 1996 Record 2c Letter from the Minister of Agriculture and Food to an MPP re: the affected person dated August 20, 1979 Record 2d Letter from Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch to the affected person dated December 2, 1996 Record 2e Letter to the Ministry from the affected person dated May 6, 1996 Record 2f Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch internal memorandum dated November 27, 1996 Record 2g Letter from the Ontario Veterinary College to the affected person dated February 10, 1951 Records 2h-n Seven letters to and from the Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch dated from 1994 to 1996 Record 2o Handwritten notes dated February 2, 1996 Record 2p-q Two letters to the Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch from the affected person dated from 1994 to 1995 Record 2r Veterinary Laboratory Services Branch report to the affected person dated March 27, 1979 Record 9 Letter to the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission dated August 14, 1993 DISCUSSION: THIRD PARTY INFORMATION Introduction The Ministry has claimed that all of the records at issue are exempt under sections 17(1)(a) and (c) of the Act . The affected person supports this claim. Sections 17(1)(a) and (c) of the Act read: A head shall refuse to disclose a record that reveals a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence implicitly or explicitly, where the disclosure could reasonably be expected to, (a) prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization; . . . . (c) result in undue loss or gain to any person, group, committee or financial institution or agency; In order for a record to qualify for exemption under sections 17(1)(a) or (c) of the Act , each part of the following three-part test must be satisfied: the record must reveal information that is a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information; and the information must have been supplied to the institution in confidence, either implicitly or explicitly; and the prospect of disclosure of the record must give rise to a reasonable expectation that one of the harms specified
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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David Goodis
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Published
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Jul 28, 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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