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Document
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MO-1315
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Institution/HIC
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Toronto Police Services Board
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The appellant made a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) to the Toronto Police Services Board (the Police). The request was for access to a police report filed in connection with a sudden death. The appellant is the Estate Trustee of the deceased individual, and indicated in the request that the report is necessary to settle the estate (section 54(a) of the Act ). The appellant stated that the report had been requested by the insurance company as a prerequisite to payment of the accidental death benefit under the deceased's life insurance policy. The policy lists the estate as beneficiary. The Police identified eight pages of records as responsive to the request. Partial access was granted to three of the eight pages. Access was denied to the entirety of the remaining five pages. In arriving at their decision, the Police relied on the provisions of section 14 of the Act (invasion of privacy). The appellant has appealed the decision of the Police. This inquiry was initiated when a Notice of Inquiry was sent to the Police, asking for their representations on the issues raised in the appeal. The Police submitted representations, which were then forwarded to the appellant, who was also asked to submit representations. Once the appellant provided representations, these were in turn forwarded to the Police along with a request for further representations, which have now been received. RECORD: The record at issue consists of a Sudden Death Report, contained on eight pages. During mediation of this appeal, the appellant indicated that she is not pursuing access to the parts of the record which relate to the persons canvassed in the building and to the two persons who initially provided first aid to the deceased. The bulk of pages 6, 7 and 8 of the record, therefore, are no longer at issue in this appeal. CONCLUSION: I have concluded that the appellant has a right of access to the parts of the Sudden Death Report requested, except for portions which are covered by the exemption provided in section 38(b) of the Act in relation to the personal information of an affected person. DISCUSSION: RIGHT OF ACCESS BY A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE I will first consider whether, under section 54(a) of the Act , the appellant is entitled to exercise the rights of the deceased under the Act . Section 54(a) states: Any right or power conferred on an individual by this Act may be exercised, if the individual is deceased, by the individual's personal representative if exercise of the right or power relates to the administration of the individual's estate; Under this section, the appellant can exercise the rights of the deceased under the Act if she can demonstrate that (a) she is the personal representative of the deceased, and (b) the rights she wishes to exercise relate to the administration of the deceased's estate. If the appellant meets the requirements of this section, then she is entitled to have the same access to the personal information of the deceased as the deceased would have had; her request for access to the personal information of the deceased under section 36(1) of the Act will be treated as though the request came from the deceased himself: see, for instance, Order M-927. Personal Representative The appellant has provided the Police and this office with a copy of the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will. The Police have indicated that they are satisfied that this documentation establishes that the appellant qualifies as the deceased's personal representative. In the circumstances, I am also satisfied that the first requirement under section 54(a) has been met. Relates to the Administration of the Individual's Estate The appellant has stated that access to the police report is necessary in order to settle the estate. One of the assets of the estate is a life insurance policy which lists the estate as its beneficiary. Under the terms of the policy, the accidental death benefit is not payable if the deceased died by suicide. The insurance company has required the appellant to seek the police report as a prerequisite to payment of the life insurance policy. The Police state that during the course of dealing with this request, they determined that the appellant was seeking information which would show the deceased's intention at the time of his death. They state that information relating to that specific need was released to the appellant. However, they submit, the information which was not released falls outside of the scope of the administration of the estate as it does not relate to the "intention" of the deceased, nor any other aspect of the deceased's estate. The Police have, in effect, assessed whether each separate piece of information contained in the police report is relevant to an understanding of the deceased's intent at the time of this death and is therefore relevant to a determination as to whether or not his death was by suicide. Information which, in the opinion of the Police, does not bear directly on the question of the deceased's intent has been severed from the record. In their representations, the Police have correctly stated that the rights of a personal representative under section 54(a) are narrower than the rights of the deceased person, in that the deceased retains his or her right to personal privacy except insofar as the administra
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Published
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Jun 27, 2000
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Type
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Order
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© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
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