|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Document
|
|
M-206
|
|
|
|
|
|
Institution/HIC
|
|
Welland County Roman Catholic Separate School Board
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
ORDER BACKGROUND: The Welland County Roman Catholic Separate School Board (the "Board") received a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to certain records held by the Board. The requester indicated that the records contained information about an individual, now deceased, who had been an employee of the Board (the deceased). The request enumerated six categories of records described as follows: 1) Copies of records regarding certain allegations concerning the deceased. 2) Copies of Board Minutes where the deceased or certain other matters were discussed. 3) Copies of documents concerning certain charges or potential charges. 4) Copies of certain Board policies and protocols. 5) Copies of documents from the deceased's employment file (corporate, Human Resources). 6) Copies of records regarding a particular investigation being conducted by the Board into allegations made against the deceased. Attached to the request was a copy of the last will and testament of the deceased appointing his wife as the sole executrix of his will. The requester indicated that he was authorized to request the information on behalf of the executrix. The requester provided the Board with an authorization to that effect signed by the executrix. The Board granted access in full to the records described in categories 4 and 5. The Board denied access to the records in categories 1 and 2 pursuant to sections 6(1)(b), 12 and 38(b) of the Act . The Board's response with respect to the category 6 records implied that no records existed as there was no "current investigation being conducted by the Board". The decision stated further that certain records did not relate to the administration of the estate, and that therefore section 54(a) of the Act did not provide the requester with a right of access to these documents. The Board also advised the requester that, pursuant to section 18 of the Act , the request for the category 3 records had been transferred to another institution which had custody of any possible responsive records. The requester appealed several aspects of the Board's decision. He questioned the application of the exemptions cited by the Board to deny access to the records. He indicated that he was of the opinion that additional records responsive to the items requested in categories 3, 4 and 6 exist. He stated that he was appealing the Board's decision regarding the non-application of section 54(a) of the Act . As well, the appellant questioned whether the individual who rendered the access decision had the authority to do so. During mediation of the appeal, the Board disclosed more records to the appellant. Included in these were the records for which the Board had claimed the application of the exemption in section 12 of the Act . Accordingly, that is no longer an issue in this appeal. As mediation was only partially successful, notice that an inquiry was being conducted to review the decision of the Board, was sent to the Board and the appellant. Representations were received from both parties. In its representations, the Board indicated that it had located another record that was responsive to the request, and that it was relying on the exemption in section 14 of the Act to deny access to this document. A supplementary Notice of Inquiry was then sent to the parties, asking for representations regarding this record. Representations on this issue were received from the Board only On August 6, 1993, while the previous representations were being considered, Commissioner Tom Wright issued Order M-170 which interpreted several statutory provisions of the Act in a way which differed from the interpretation in previous orders. Since a new approach to the operation of the Act was being adopted and because the same statutory provisions are at issue in the present appeal, it was determined that copies of Order M-170 should be provided to the parties. The parties were then given the opportunity to state whether the contents of Order M-170 would cause them to change or supplement the representations which they had previously made. Additional representations were received from the Board only. THE RECORDS: The records at issue in this appeal may be described as follows: 1) An excerpt from the minutes of a Board meeting of October 21, 1991. 2) A memo dated October 11, 1991, and an attached statement dated October 20, 1991. 3) A report dated October, 1991 regarding an alleged incident. 4) A memo dated October 30, 1991. 5) A report to the Director of Education dated October 29, 1991, and an attached memo re: background information. 6) An employee's file notes and memos. 7) A page of notes taken by a counsellor. Access to Record 1 was denied to the appellant pursuant to section 6(1)(b) of the Act . The Board denied access to the balance of the records stating that section 54(a) of the Act did not apply and claiming the exemption provided by section 38(b), with reference to parts of section 14. PRELIMINARY MATTER: The appellant has asked the Commissioner's office to review the authority of the Board's decision-maker to make access decisions under the Act . The Board has provided a copy of the delegation of authority to this office. I have reviewed this delegation and am satisfied that it is valid and proper. Accordingly, I find that the individual who made the access decision had the authority to do so. ISSUES/DISCUSSION: The remaining issues arising in this appeal are as follows: A: Whether the information contained in the records qualifies as "personal information" as defined in section 2(1) of the Act . B: Whether section 54(a) of the Act applies to the records in the circumstances of this appeal. C: If the answer to Issue A is yes, whether the mandatory exemption provided by section 14 of the Act applies to Records 2-7. D : Whether the discretionary exemption provided by section 6(1)(b) of the Act applies to Record 1. E: Whether the Board's search for responsive records was rea
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
|
|
-
MFIPPA
-
14(1)(f)
-
14(2)(a)
-
14(2)(d)
-
14(2)(f)
-
14(2)(i)
-
14(3)(a)
-
14(3)(b)
-
14(3)(d)
-
14(3)(g)
-
2(1) personal information
-
2(2)
-
22(1)(a)(ii)
-
54(a)
-
6(1)(b)
-
6(2)(b)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published
|
|
Oct 26, 1993
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
|
Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
<<
Back
|
|
|
|
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
|
© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
|