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M-493

Document		M-493


File #		M-9400629


Institution/HIC		Board of Education for the City of Hamilton


Summary		This is an appeal under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ). The appellant submitted a multi-part request to the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton (the Board). The part of the request which is at issue in this appeal was for access to a complete list of probationary secondary school teachers hired over the last seven years, including information about whether any of these teachers are related to certain Board members and staff. At the request stage, the Board did not grant access to any records. It indicated that the requested information could be extracted from Board minutes, and directed the appellant to possible sources for these minutes. The Board's response did not state that access to these minutes was denied, nor was an exemption claimed. After receiving this response, the appellant filed an appeal with the Commissioner's office on the basis that the Board ought to have responsive records. During the mediation stage of this appeal, the Board conducted several additional searches for records. As a result of these efforts, lists of probationary teachers for the years 1992, 1993 and 1994 were located and disclosed to the appellant. These records contained not only the teachers' names, but also the locations to which they were assigned, the nature of the assignment, the date of probationary appointment and the permanent appointment date. The names of the teachers in these three records were withheld from disclosure pursuant to the exemption relating to personal privacy provided by section 14(1) of the Act . The appellant has chosen not to contest the Board's decision to deny access to the teachers' names and accordingly, that is not an issue in this appeal. Information relating to primary and other non-secondary school teachers was also not disclosed because the request referred to secondary school teachers. During mediation, the appellant agreed that the relevant part of the request should be interpreted as a request for lists of probationary secondary school teachers . Accordingly, neither the Board minutes referred to above, nor the parts of the lists of probationary teachers which pertain to non-secondary school teachers, are at issue in this appeal. The only substantive issue to be considered is whether the Board's search for responsive records was reasonable in the circumstances. A Notice of Inquiry was provided to the Board and the appellant. Representations were received from both parties. The Board's representations sought to characterize the request as not being a proper one under the Act . I will consider this as a preliminary issue.


Legislation		MFIPPA 17(2) 22(1)(a)


Subject Index		form of request (questions)


Signed by		John Higgins


Published		Mar 17, 1995


Type		Order


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