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Summary
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ORDER BACKGROUND: The York Regional Police Services Board (the Police) received a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to all records pertaining to a fatal motor vehicle accident. The requesters are the parents of an individual killed in the accident. The Police gave notice of the request to the driver of the motor vehicle and other individuals named in the records (the affected persons) under section 21 of the Act . Some of the affected persons consented to the disclosure of their personal information while others objected. The Police disclosed some of the records, in whole or in part, and withheld the remaining records pursuant to exemptions in sections 8(2)(a), 10(1), 11(d) and (e), 12 and 14(1) of the Act . The Police also advised the requesters that there were 15 photographs to which access was granted, and invited them to view the photographs. The requesters were advised that if they wished to have actual reproductions of the photographs, they would be required to pay a fee of $336.00. The requesters appealed the decision of the Police with respect to both the refusal to give access to the responsive documents, and to the amount of the fee for the reproduction of the photographs. During mediation the Police provided the requesters with photocopies of the photographs free of charge. The appellants were not satisfied with the photocopies. The Police granted access to one record to which an affected person had consented and in addition they agreed to disclose to the appellants pages 62 to 99 of the record. As a result, the exemptions in sections 10(1), 11(d) and (e), which were claimed for these pages only, are no longer in issue. The Police also stated that parts of pages 1, 2, 3, 6-10 inclusive, 100 and 112 do not contain any information responsive to the request. I have reviewed these records and I agree with the Police that they contain no responsive information. Further mediation was not successful, and notice that an inquiry was being conducted to review the Police's decision was sent to the appellants, the Police and the affected persons. Representations were received from the Police only. The records which remain at issue are pages 19-23, 28-33, 37-39, 41-43, 45, 101, 102 and 112. ISSUES: The issues arising in this appeal are: A. Whether the information contained in the records qualifies as "personal information" as defined in section 2(1) of the Act . B. If the answer to Issue A is yes, whether the mandatory exemption provided by section 14 of the Act applies to the records. C. Whether the discretionary exemption provided by section 12 of the Act applies to the records. D. Whether the discretionary exemption provided by section 8(2)(a) of the Act applies to the records. E. Whether the fee for the reproduction of the photographs is in accordance with the terms of the Act . SUBMISSIONS/CONCLUSIONS: ISSUE A: Whether the information contained in the records qualifies as "personal information" as defined in section 2(1) of the Act . Section 2(1) of the Act states, in part, as follows: "personal information" means recorded information about an identifiable individual, including, (a) information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual, (b) information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved, (c) any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual, (d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual, ... Section 2(2) states: Personal information does not include information about an individual who had been dead for more than thirty years. I have reviewed all of the records at issue, and in my view, they contain information which fall under one or more of the above-mentioned paragraphs of the definition of personal information. I find that this information relates to the individual who was killed in the accident, the driver of the motor vehicle who was charged with violation of the Highway Traffic Act and subsequently tried and convicted of careless driving, and other identifiable individuals, other than the appellants. Because the death of the individual who was killed in the accident occurred within the last 30 years, I find that the provisions of section 2(2) of the Act are not applicable in the circumstances of this appeal. ISSUE B: If the answer to Issue A is yes, whether the mandatory exemption provided by section 14 of the Act applies to the records. I have found under Issue A that the information at issue qualifies as "personal information" under the Act . Section 14(1) of the Act prohibits the disclosure of personal information to any person other than to the individual to whom the information relates, except in certain circumstances listed under the section. In my view, the only exception to the section 14(1) mandatory exemption which has potential application in the circumstances of this appeal is section 14(1)(f), which reads as follows: A head shall refuse to disclose personal information to any person other than the individual to whom the information relates except, if the disclosure does not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. Because section 14(1)(f) is an exception to the mandatory exemption which prohibits the disclosure of personal information, in order for me to find that section 14(1)(f) applies, I must find that disclosure of the personal information would not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. In determining whether section 14(1)(f) applies, consideration should be given to sections 14(2) and (3) of the Act , which provide guidance in determining whether or not disclosure of personal information would constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy, and section 14(4), which lists a number of specific types of information the disclosure of which does not constitute an unjustified in
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