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The Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat (the Secretariat) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) for access to:
A report by a [named individual] on the Hansen and Ward reports dealing with the validity of the Golden Lake land claim to the Ontario side of the Ottawa River watershed including Algonquin Park.
The Secretariat did not respond to the request within the prescribed 30 day period under section 28(7) of the Act and the appellant appealed the "deemed refusal" to provide access. The Secretariat later issued a decision and denied access to the report on the basis of sections 13(1), 17(1), 19, 21(3)(d) and 22(a) of the Act.
The Secretariat identified the following records as being responsive to the request:
1. A three page letter compiled by an affected person which commented on a researcher's work;
2. A list of researchers with margin notes made by the author of Record 1 respecting the suitability of the researchers for certain work; and
3. A report consisting of research material and margin notes made by the author of Record 1.
During mediation of the appeal, the Secretariat also raised section 18(1) of the Act as an additional ground for denying access. A list of the records together with the corresponding exemptions claimed by the Secretariat is set out in Appendix A of this order.
The appellant asserted that there is a public interest in the disclosure of the documents, pursuant to section 23 of the Act.
A notice of inquiry to review the Secretariat's decision was sent to the appellant, the Secretariat and the author of the report (the affected person). Written representations were received from all the parties.
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